Profits Are Everything! Explosions Are a Close Second! Then Image!
by iceandfire105
Summary: In the general scheme of things Marcei was pretty high up on the status charts. She was *that* close to becoming the new Trade Princess, and life couldn't really get much better. But it really sucked that now everything had to mess up. Marooning? Alliance and Horde conflict? Crazy pigmies? What? Goblin starting experience. UNDER REWRITE.
1. What Are Names in a World of Money?

**NOTE: 25/6/15: This story has been edited, as you may very well be able to tell. The author's notes however, I haven't touched. So ignore them, please.**

* * *

**Hey!**

**Okay, like the description says, this story is grabbing the goblin quests in Kezan and the Lost Isles, and putting a slightly creative spin on them. So, I will add in little filler moments, thoughts etc. Also, I won't do a great deal of describing things 'cause, let's face it; we've all played it. We all know what everything looks like, and me explaining it all over again will just be a bother. Now, I apologise in advance because the first few chapters will be slow, because it's all Kezan-based stuff. Depressing, but, we'll get through it, yeah? Also, I won't over-bombard you with huge Author's Notes, because we all hate them. Anyway, sticking with that, I'll let you actually start reading now.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

**_Introduction_**

_The wily and cunning goblins of Kezan have lived in relative peace for generations. Though some of their race sided with the marauding orcs during the Second War, most goblins have remained neutral throughout the various conflicts between the Alliance and Horde. Ruled over by corrupt, yet highly affluent Trade Princes, the goblins created a virtual paradise for themselves throughout the islands of the Southseas. Their ingenious feats of engineering and vast trade fleets helped make the island capital of Kezan one of the great technological wonders of the world. But now, as the elements themselves rise up in anger across the world, the goblins' mechanical paradise will be put to the test, for very soon, fate will force them to choose sides in a conflict that will shape the very history of the world._

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Kezan**_

In the general scheme of things, Marcei was pretty damn high up on the status charts. She was like, *that* close to becoming the new Trade Princess, and when it finally happened, chasing after other people's taxes would finally become someone else's problem. She was in no way lying when she she'd say she was nearly there.

One problem, though.

Jastor Gallywix.

"_Trade Prince_ Gallywix" to anyone below her level, but since she didn't care and hated his guts anyway, she called him whatever the hell she fancied. And besides, what were first names in a world of money?

There was a solution to this particular bump in the road (_cough,_ kill him off, _cough_), but a) Sassy wouldn't approve (and _man_, that was important), b) it wouldn't get her any popularity points when the election time came, and c) it was simply too much hard work in the first place. And anyway, she was at least ninety percent sure that Gallywix wasn't stupid enough to die without direct assassination, and doing so would probably blow her cover. She couldn't risk any screw-ups, or she'd have to say goodbye to any chance of Trade Princess for good.

One thing she had learnt while climbing the popularity ladder however, was that goblins were one of the most unreliable races out there. Yes, she was aware she was insulting her own species when she specified this, but it was true. And it was most likely that everyone else out there agreed. When you want something done, you've got to either do it yourself, or fork over a ton of cash. If her employees (and everyone else she associated with) had half a brain (which they probably wouldn't), she wouldn't have to be running around doing all the work for them, like she was at the moment. This left very little time for plotting, running rampant (one of her favourite pastimes), and blowing stuff up. However, she was female. She could multitask.

'Boss!'

Marcei looked up from the files she was flipping through (bills - chuck, taxes - chuck, "Regulation of Troll Workers" warning notice - incinerate, footbomb papers - give to Ace, more bills – chuck) at Sassy Hardwrench, her executive assistant, and quite frankly, her life saver. Donned in purple, as per usual, and looking harassed (as usual), the green-haired goblin was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, turning a gold-hilted knife over in her hands (it was her idea of a stress ball).

Marcei sighed, and ran a hand through the thick strands of hair that had slipped out of her own messy bun. 'Alright, who's screwed up now? I swear I'm gonna shoot them.'

'Dampwick, boss.'

She groaned. Foreman Dampwick usually did alright when it came to staying on her good side, and was too useful to kill. She debated what to do with him, before finally settling with the idea of clubbing him over the head.

'Boss, I don't think he's done anything, he wanted to talk.'

'What about?'

'There's trouble down in the Kaja'mine again, and he's been going crazy tryin'a find you. He said something about "defiant trolls."'

Marcei huffed. Those trolls had irritated her since day one. Sure, they were stupid enough to do what they were told, but some of the brighter ones had a tendency to become rebellious. They were tasered, of course. It was amusing really, because the tasering was never her idea. It was Dampwick's. He did pass it off as hers, though, so she had bashed him over the head with the nearest thing - a broken pickaxe handle. Quite a nifty idea, if she did say so herself, and he was moaning for days.

But it was a problem if the trolls were becoming defiant, because she wasn't sure tasering would deal with that as easily. The Kaja'mite they were mining had some special . . . properties. In short, it gave you an incredible brain boost in order to have those "I've got an idea!" moments that were in such high demand. Kaja'mite was the thing that made goblins into what they are now; the best engineers on Azeroth. Kaja'Cola was being produced out of the Kaja'mite; it was making her a fortune, and it was what Sassy believed was going to get her Trade Princess promotion. So really, "defiant trolls" weren't acceptable.

'Where is he?'

'The mine, running around in circles like a headless chicken.' Sassy paused, peered out of the door and over the balcony attached to the second floor of KTC Headquarters, and seemed to be looking at something for a long moment. Then, she crossed Marcei's office to the other side of the room and rummaged through the cupboard. She retrieved a box tied up with a red ribbon, before bringing it back over. 'And boss,' she said, 'give this as an incentive to get his act together.'

Sassy passed her the box. Marcei put her ear to it, and could hear the ticking of a bomb. She arched an eyebrow, wondering for a brief second what on Azeroth Sassy was doing keeping explosives in her cupboard (apart from the ones she knew about) but felt a grin cross her face regardless.

Reason number one as to why Sassy was one of her favourite goblins – she had some of the best incentives.

* * *

The Kaja'mine was a giant pit not one hundred metres from the doorstep of Headquarters, chock full of carts, mining setup, trolls and Kaja'mite. Foreman Dampwick, the unlucky goblin stuck in charge of overseeing it all, was sitting on a barrel overlooking the pit and shouting orders to the brute hobgoblins keeping everything in order. Beneath his floppy sunhat, his scowl couldn't be more apparent.

Marcei cleared her throat, stuffing her hands deep in her pockets and running her finger along the hilt of a knife she kept in there.

Dampwick spun around, nearly toppling off the barrel. 'Ah, boss!' He looked rather alarmed now that she was here in the flesh. 'I was looking for you, and I couldn't find you, and-'

'I was in Headquaters, you idiot.'

'Well, I can see that Sassy found you-'

Marcei thrust the box into his hands. 'Speaking of Sassy, she wanted you to have this.'

Dampwick blinked. Marcei could understand his surprise. Sassy didn't particularly like him, and to receive a present from her was simply odd.

Dampwick recovered from the surprise quickly, saying: 'Always nice to get a gift hand delivered by the second in command.'

He pulled the ribbon from the box with a flourish, and the lid popped open of its own accord. The entire thing immediately went off with a loud bang and threw him backwards into a crate, which smashed upon impact.

Three seconds of silence passed, followed by a groan.

He yelled from underneath the pile of rubble: 'Okay, _okay!_ I got the message!'

Dampwick climbed out from the mess, and came over to her, brushing himself off and muttering, 'I am honestly not surprised.'

Once he had deemed himself dirt-free, he said, 'We've got trouble in the Kaja'mine again, boss. The tunnelling worms are back.' Going slightly greener at the thought, he added, 'They're_ literally_ eating away at the Company's profits.'

Marcei groaned. Even when the trolls were behaving, there were still problems when the tunnelling worms came. They practically demolished the Kaja'mite supply, causing problems with the flow of Kaja'Cola being produced.

'What about the exterminator?'

'I tried calling him, but he's fled with the last payment we made to him. Do you think you could take care of it? Pretty please? I'd help but I haven't attended that Cartel-Mandated Fighter training seminar.'

'Then what was Sassy talking about when she mentioned "defiant trolls?"'

Dampwick paled, before howling, 'I've failed! I _tried_ to meet our Kaja'Cola quotas, but you know troll slaves these days. Good help is hard to find!' He made a funny hand gesture to go with his current facial expression. 'You, of all goblins, know that production has to continue! The Trade Prince will have all of our heads!'

'And I suppose you want me to deal with it?'

'That would be nice, yes.'

Marcei grumbled. She really shouldn't have expected anything less, especially at the peaking point of her career. Something had to go wrong sooner or later.

As she turned to go to the mines, she remembered something. She whirled around and smacked Dampwick upside the head, before whispering in his ear, 'Any more failures and you're fired. My boyfriend can do a better job than what you are doing right now. I can easily replace you.'

Dampwick gulped.

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**Last edited: 9/1/16  
**


	2. To Kill Dampwick - Metaphorically

***Sigh* I know, the stuff at the start is boring. I know. But we should get onto a little bit of fighting and violence soon. I hope. If not, I'll just chuck some in to make things interesting.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

Because the trolls were closer than the worms, Marcei decided to deal with them first. They were definitely nothing impressive. They were blue skinned, tall, and gangly (though she couldn't talk. She was barely three feet high). They were also stupid enough that they didn't manage to find any ways out of the mines. Not that she was complaining. Like Dampwick said, good help is hard to find.

Marcei had a specialty taser gun, so it had more of an effect on the trolls; meaning it was very painful. She'd just march up to one that was lying around (or dancing – those ones however, she was internally questioning the sanity of) give it a good jab in the thigh, because that was all she could reach, and punch the button. So, within seconds, the "defiant trolls" were dealt with.

Man, she was going to kill Dampwick and his pathetic Cartel-Mandated Fighter training rubbish.

Well, she would, but that would mean one less employee. She briefly wondered for a moment how the taser gun would affect him, before coming to the conclusion that the result would be entertaining in the least. Well, tasering anyone was fun, so he wouldn't be much different.

The mines were dark and dingy, with the Kaja'mite deposits glowing slightly. After trekking for ten minutes, Marcei started to assume there were no tunneling worms, and turned to leave. Then there was the sound of rock cracking, and she was buried in rubble.

Coughing, she climbed out of the rockslide and found herself face to face with a large, mechanical-looking grey thing. Still wondering what it was, she barely jumped aside in time when it lunged, and she was left with a long gash running down her arm.

Snarling, she pulled the knife from her pocket and threw it, where it flew straight between the creature's revolving teeth and into its system. It shrieked, and reared backwards, waving its head in agony, before dropping dead. The knife had apparently driven itself so far into the thing, that it killed it. Breathing heavily, and wincing from the stinging in her arm, she moved over to inspect what she had killed. This must have been a tunneling worm, because it registered vaguely in her memory from when the last infestation struck.

She pulled the knife from inside the worm's mechanisms, and went further down the mine, where she found nothing. It seemed that the rest of them had died out, and the one she had killed was the last of them. Satisfied, she left.

* * *

She went back to the barrel, where she found Dampwick, still sitting on his backside. He was positively delighted when he heard of her success.

'I couldn't have done it better myself. In fact, I didn't. I'm sure that in no time at all, we'll all be talking about the great and powerful, and may I add extremely wealthy, Trade Princess Marcei!'

Marcei raised her eyebrows. 'Is this just to make up for the fact that I was extremely close to firing you?'

He shook his head and shrugged slightly.

'Nah, it was just to make you happy, 'cause I need you to do something.'

'Need me to do something? I'm your boss.'

'Ah, well, it's just the fact that Sassy's been riding me to supply some Kaja'Cola for the party that's being thrown in your honour later today.' He paused for a moment. 'Oops, was it supposed to be a surprise? You didn't hear it from me. Anywho, with production down these last few days, this is all I managed to get made.' He gestured to a six-pack of Kaja'Cola. 'Would you take it to her?'

Marcei sighed. 'Didn't it occur to you that if I bring the Kaja'Cola to her, she will realise that I know about this . . . party, and she will probably fire you, kill you, bury you, dig you up, and kill you again?'

Dampwick considered this for a second. '_Weeeell_ . . . looking at Sassy's frequent temper, I might agree with you._ Buuuut,_ as you see, I'm the one supplying the Kaja'Cola. If she kills me, she won't have any for the party anyway.'

'Fine. It's your funeral. If you even get one.'

'Hey!'

* * *

Marcei went back to Headquarters and walked around, yelling Sassy's name until she came running. Marcei brought out the six-pack, which Sassy eyed warily, as if she expected it to explode as soon as she was given it. Gingerly, she took it and looked it over with a scrutinizing eye. Once declaring it bomb-free, she said, 'We need more Kaja'Cola than this! I swear I'm going to fire Dampwick if I don't kill him first!'

'That's what I said.'

She sighed heavily. 'Well, there is Kaja'Cola all over town, I s'pose. Just remember, image is everything if we're going to get you promoted to Trade Princess!' She paused. 'No, wait, profits are everything! Explosions are a close second. _Then_ image!'

Bilgewater Cartel was Kezan's capital, and after seeing the size of the island, the population numbers weren't too vast. Marcei needed all of the "image" she could get.

'Boss, while you were down in the mines, Megs was asking for you. Something about your new ride? I think she's outside somewhere.'

Marcei lightened at that. She liked Megs Dreadshredder. She was slightly more talented than the ordinary goblin when it came to engineering, and Marcei could always count on her if she needed anything made.

'Oh,' Sassy said, noticing her arm. 'You might want to get that cleaned up too.'

She reached over and swept a loose strand of green hair (the colour was rare; most goblins would kill for it. Literally), back up into her hairband, and smiled wanly.

'You're reaching the peak of your career boss. You've worked so hard, you deserve only the best. You're gonna get that title. I know you will.'

Marcei felt the corners of her lips quirk up slightly. Sassy had a way of keeping her spirits up, even in the worst of times. Some days were unsuccessful; they left her completely drained, and she hated it. After all, her second most favourite thing was success. The top of the list, though, was bombs. Nothing could change that.

Sassy turned around and looked down the staircase to the bottom floor.

'Chip!' she barked. There was a muffled response, coming from the other end of Headquarters. After a moment, Chip Endale popped up the stairs, dark red hair ruffled, and shirtless – a habit of his.

'What?' he said. 'I'm busy, woman. I've got stuff to do!'

'Fix up your girlfriend. She's injured.'

'Oh, hey,' he said, noticing Marcei. A grin spread over his face. 'What do you think of my abs, baby?' He gave a sweeping gesture for good measure, saying, 'I just got back from the gym!'

'And don't you look good,' Marcei said in response, a smile tugging at her lips. He preened at the praise.

'I am one fine piece of meat!'

'Ahem,' Sassy said. '_Injury._'

Marcei held out her arm.

'Oh dang. That looks bad.'

Tugging her by the hand, he brought her downstairs, where the small amount of medical supplies were kept (explosions were ninety seven percent of the causes of death, so there wasn't really a need to keep very much). As he wrapped it up in bandaging, he asked, 'What bashed you up so bad? I'll bash them!'

'It wasn't anyone. Just a tunneling worm.'

'Man, I hate those things. Did'ja kill it?'

'Yes.'

He let out a whoop, dropping her now bandaged arm. 'That's my girl! No one messes with her!'

'Definitely. Now, I need to go see Megs about something, I'll see you later.'

'Alright. Now, I know that I promised you last night, and the night before that, but I'm taking you out someplace really nice tomorrow night. Make sure you wear something nice.'

Marcei crossed her arms and raised an amused eyebrow. 'How about the dress I intended to wear tonight?'

'Er, yeah. Okay.' He shuffled a little. 'I promise. Tomorrow night.'

'_Sure.'_

'Really!'

'Okay, okay. I believe you.'

Just as she started to get up, he said, 'I heard that some Southsea pirates pulled into dock earlier. Be careful if you go into town.'

She stopped. 'What?'

'Yeah. They even have women pirates! Hmm, maybe I should go check it out for myself.' He took one look at Marcei's bemused expression before adding hastily, 'Just to make sure it's safe for you out there, baby.'

'Uh huh. And not as an excuse to check them out?'

'Swear on my life.'

Marcei pursed her lips. 'I'll be fine. I don't need protecting. Though I appreciate the gallantry, certainly, I'm sure no one will try to jump me publically.' She gave him a little smile. '_Really._'

'Alright, babe. Come back soon. I'll be out with the boys if you need me. 'Cause I _know_ you'll miss me.'

Marcei laughed, and waved as she left. Now she had to find Megs.


	3. To Deal With Violent Brawls - Violently

**Ugh. I know. Same old, same old. Do I really need to repeat myself? Thought so. **_**However**_**, there is a **_**little**_** fight in here. I know that in the big picture, it means absolutely nothing, but we'll get there.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

Megs Dreadshredder was standing just outside of headquarters, leaning up against a car decked with flags and unnecessary gadgets and extensions. Marcei called her name, and she turned around. When she saw her, she grinned.

'There she is! I think you're going to like this.'

'Like what?'

Megs gestured to the car. 'Marcei, you're about to host the corporate party to end all corporate parties. My research-'

Marcei snorted. Megs' idea of research came closer to her own idea of interrogation. Megs raised an eyebrow, before continuing. 'My research says that if you're seen having a good time at a party, your promotion quotient will skyrocket and explode! So, with that in mind, might I suggest that you take your new company hot rod out for a spin? Go pick up your friends. Just remember me on the way up when it all comes together and you're the new Trade Princess, okay?'

'I hope you didn't mean the exploding part literally.'

'Who says I didn't?'

Marcei laughed, and plucked the 'hot rod' keys out of Megs' hands. 'Alright, alright, I'm going. See ya 'round.'

Megs shook her head in disbelief, and gave a brief wave, before heading inside. Marcei stuck the keys in the ignition, and the car rumbled to life. Now she had to find three people in the whole of _freaking_ Kezan. Piece of cake.

* * *

Out of all of her friends, Izzy would be the easiest to find. She _never_ left the pool. Like, _ever_. Marcei turned the Hot Rod and went west, and in through the pool gates. The sun was directly overhead, and beating down with intense heat. The only thing the car didn't seem to have was a roof. That was _just _chipper. She pulled to a stop right next to the pool, earning herself glares from several disgruntled bypassers. The area around the pool was littered with beach chairs, and there was hardly space to move, the number of goblins was so large. With a lot of pushing and shoving, Marcei forced herself through the crowd, keeping her eyes open for a red mane of hair. After about ten minutes, she spotted Izzy, lounging on a beach chair, surrounded by a mob of hopeful sweethearts. Upon spotting Marcei, she leapt up with open arms, shoving half of her fan group like dominoes into the pool.

'There you are hon!' she cried. 'I've been waiting for you! Now, can we like, go? I'm getting really sick of this lot. They never leave me alone. Like, _ever_!' She flapped her arms, emphasizing the apparent importance of the situation.

Marcei nodded. 'Fine. We'll go then. Oi! You!' she yelled to a random goblin that had avoided falling into the water. 'You've got something on your face!' He stumbled backwards, slapping at his face, trying to remove the "something." As a result, he, and the rest of the fan group tumbled into the pool.

'C'mon, hon.' Marcei grabbed Izzy by the hand, and tugged her back to the car. 'Let's go before they come after you again.'

* * *

KTC Headquarters sat on a hill overlooking the majority of Kezan. The city was a jumble of concrete roads criss-crossing everywhere, with other raised paths that tended to cause several crashes. There were no safety bumpers of any kind, so it wasn't uncommon to see someone drive straight off the edge and plough into another's house. This was when car insurance usually came in handy. If there was car insurance anyway. Which there wasn't. So, if you crashed, you were screwed; your problem, no one else's.

Marcei drove the hot rod down the hill towards an intersection that thankfully, wasn't overflowing with traffic. Gobber's house was on the corner.

Now, if you took a look at Gobber, you'd wonder just _exactly_ how he came into Marcei's good books. She usually deemed anything that wasn't a goblin as an inferior, and paid them no heed. But since Gobber was useful for all her banking needs, she didn't care. He took her place in the excruciatingly long lines, and brought home mountains of cash. It was a pretty good concept, really.

Though that didn't change the fact that he was incredibly ugly. And a hobgoblin. He was a medium brown, boulder shaped, and had huge teeth. How his kind came to be called hobgoblins, she didn't know. They were _nothing_ like goblins. And they were so much stupider.

Marcei pulled to a stop outside the house. Gobber was waiting outside. He thumped over, causing the hot rod to jiggle slightly. He came to a stop next to the car, and made some grunting and grumbling noises. Marcei gave him a pained smile, and nodded as if she understood what he was saying. Gobber continued grunting, so Marcei stopped pretending to care, and jabbed towards the back seat with her thumb. Thankfully, he obliged and climbed in next to Izzy, who pulled a face and leaned away.

Marcei rotated herself so she was facing her. 'You seen Ace?'

Izzy shrugged. 'Saw him this mornin'. Said he was gonna take on whatshisname from that gang round the corner for stealing whatshername – Candy.'

'But she's not his girlfriend.'

'So? He always had a thing for her. And she was enough of a cow to flirt and play around with him. His head's all messed up.'

'So Ace is getting himself in a fight. Over _Candy_.'

'Pretty much.'

'And you didn't do anything about it?'

'Hey, hon, you know him. You can't stop him when he has his head set on something.'

Marcei groaned, and threw herself back into her seat. 'He's such an _idiot!_

Izzy grunted in agreement. 'We should go find him.'

With a sigh, Marcei turned on the car. 'When we get back to KTC, I am personally going to get that taser I was gonna use on Dampwick, and shock him to oblivion.'

'That's nice.'

* * *

Marcei turned the hot rod onto the next road. If Ace was still being an idiot, and battling out his problems via fists and explosives, he should be around here. Her guess was confirmed when she heard yelling and thumping coming from over a wall nearby. Marcei did a hurried U turn to park the car in case a quick getaway was needed, and vaulted out of her seat. Izzy quickly followed in suit, while Gobber happily stayed where he was, forking through some macaroons in his palm.

Marcei crept in around the wall, and looked at what was going on. A goblin with multiple piercings was there. His skin had taken on a sickly hue due to the number of tattoos obscuring it, and his face was smeared with blood. Ace, Marcei was happy to see, was doing a good job. The punches he was managing to throw were strong, and were painful enough that the other goblin would grunt or wince when struck. He was fighting back, though. Ace had a black eye, and his nose ring was ripped out. A thick trail of drying blood covered the bottom half of his face.

'Ace!' Izzy attempted to run forward, but Marcei grabbed her by the arm.

The tattooed goblin turned around, and an awful smirk overcame his face. 'Well, look who's come to play! Sorry ladies, but you really should leave the men to deal with this. Don't want little girls like you getting _hurt_.'

A shrill giggle rang across the courtyard. Candy Cane was sitting on a lounge chair and watching with a petite little smile. Marcei raised an eyebrow, and felt her hand twitch with the desire to walk right over there and smack her in the face.

Izzy snarled, and broke her wrist free from Marcei's grip. 'Ex-_cuse you?_ Do you know just _who_ you're talking to?'

The goblin shrugged indifferently, and kicked Ace in his heavily bruised shins. Ace dropped, and groaned. Marcei gestured for him to hang on, and let Izzy continue scolding Tattoo Goblin.

Izzy pointed to Marcei, and continued. '_She, _is going to be the _freaking_ Trade Princess, buddy! And trust me, if _anyone_ gives her crap, she kills 'em off. So, _watch it_!'

Tattoo Goblin snorted, and the rest of his gang burst out laughing. Marcei scowled, and walked over to Ace, who was on his feet and watching the conversation with a sceptical expression.

'What the hell?' he muttered when she reached him. She shrugged, and grabbed him by the wrist. 'Come on.'

'So your girlfriend came to save you, did she, Blondie?'

Ace scowled at the name, and looked back at Tattoo Goblin. 'She's _not_ my _girlfriend_.'

Marcei looked over at Izzy. She had pulled a knife from a nearby stack of crates, and was slowly creeping over. Marcei quietly pulled her own from her belt. Izzy stood up behind Tattoo, and looked at her for instruction. She held up a finger. _One_. Then a second. _Two._ Izzy brought up her knife so it was hovering over the goblin's back. _Three_.

Izzy plunged her knife through the goblin's spine, and Marcei flung her knife, burying it into another goblin. Both dropped like stones. Ace spun around and punched another one nearby unconscious.

A thick pair of arms wrapped themselves around Marcei, and moved themselves to her throat. She pulled another knife from inside her boot, and stabbed it up into her victim's eyes. The goblin howled, and let her go. She spun around and kicked him into a box of wired explosives. Thankfully, most of them were wet from exposure, and didn't work. But the ones that did blew him to bits. Izzy jogged up beside her, and winced when she was showered in blood. 'Nice.'

Ace stopped on her other side. 'Yeah.'

Marcei grumbled. 'And it was _supposed_ to be my day off today!'

Ace laughed, and thumped her on the back. 'Nice job, toots.'

Marcei scowled. She hated it when he said that, even though he had no interest in her. Surprisingly, it never got on Chip's nerves, so Ace continued to use the term. '_Ace._'

'_Marcei._'

She sighed. Ace was a hopeless case; she had decided that a long time ago. 'Whatever. We have to go. Megs'll want to know where we are.'

'Ah, Megs!' Ace rubbed his hands together enthusiastically. 'Can't wait to see her!'

'Bet she _can _wait to see you.'

'I'll have you know, we get on like goblins and explosives!'

'More like goblins and trolls.'

'Who's the troll?'

'You. Obviously.'

Ace laughed good naturedly and walked over to the hot rod, where Gobber was patiently waiting. Izzy nudged Marcei's side.

'You know . . .'

Marcei looked at her. 'I know what?'

Izzy shook her head, smirking. 'Never mind.'

Marcei scowled again, and looked over to where Candy had been sitting. Typically, the girl had run the moment the real violence had begun. 'What's the bet she's finding herself a new boyfriend?'

Izzy looked over at the vacant lounge and laughed. 'A stack of macaroons.'

'Oh, you're on!'


	4. To Beat Down Dodgy Debtors

**We are upgrading slightly. **_**Slightly. **_**Anyway, once Deathwing kicks in, things should be a little more interesting.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

'The party's almost ready. How was your trip into town?'

Marcei leaned her back against the hot rod, and looked over at Izzy. 'Eventful. However I doubt it will have Sassy's sticker of approval, image wise.'

Megs tapped her pencil against her lips and raised her eyebrows. 'Oh?'

Izzy pointed at Ace. 'Does that explain it all for ya?'

Megs grimaced at Ace and said, 'You have a chunk of raw meat for a face, did you know that?'

Ace smirked, and folded his arms. 'It reassures me to know you are so concerned, Shredder.'

She sighed, and looked away. 'Go get yourself cleaned up. You're ruining Marcei's _image_.'

'I think she's already done enough damage today.'

'Go away already!'

Ace grinned. 'Ooh, she's feisty!'

'Ace, just go.' Marcei gave him a stern look. Ace smirked, and feigned a look of hurt.

'Ouch, Marce. What's up with you?'

'_Ace_.'

'Fine, I'm going.'

Ace went into KTC. Izzy gave Marcei an apologetic look, before following. Gobber had wandered off somewhere. Marcei turned back to Megs.

'Well . . . I _did_ get them.'

Megs' sharp eyes glittered with amusement, and a light wind blew at her brown ponytail.

'You did all look very good riding around in the hot rod.' She paused, and considered this statement. 'Save Ace, of course. He was a mess. But I'm sure you made quite an impression on the citizenry.'

Marcei gave a slightly guilty grin. 'Ah, yeah. Sure.'

'Anyway, I'm sure Sassy needs you for something or other. She's going frantic. I mean, she's already put an employee in the infirmary. Concussion.'

'Wow.'

Uh, yeah. You might want to see what's up.'

Sassy was inside Headquarters, anxiously flipping through papers. Her green hair was tumbling out of its bun, and her hazel eyes were bloodshot and anxious.

'Sassy?'

She looked up, surprised. 'Ah, boss. You're back.' She gathered her papers together into one big pile, and came over. 'We need to send a message to several deadbeats. Of course, they're hiding out in Drudgetown, the scum. I know how you hate going into the slums, boss lady, but what can we do?'

Drudgetown was one of Kezan's poorer suburbs. The streets were packed with beggars and many who were terrible at pickpocketing. It was impossible to find a decent house. They were all timber and barrel shacks, or a blanket propped up on sticks. It was also filled with loads of dodgy goblins. Well, that was a bit rich, all goblins were dodgy in a way, but these guys were worse than your average one. It was no wonder that her debtors were hiding there.

Sassy flicked through her papers, before extracting one and handing it to Marcei.

'I have all of the names right here. Might I suggest a little "personal visit?" A couple of strategic beatdowns will send a message to the other debtors _and_ the competition.'

Marcei gave an appreciative smirk. 'Strategic beatdowns, eh?'

'Strategic beatdowns.'

* * *

Hobart Grapplehammer and Assistant Greely. Almost everyone in Kezan knew their names, but not quite for the reasons they intended. The two supposed "inventors" had caused more chaos between them than the majority of the population, and that was saying something. Today was clearly no different.

Happily keeping to their corner of Headquarters, the two of them were busy tinkering on a giant, metal contraption that was slightly arch shaped, with two huge, electric coils poised above at either side, crackling with purple sparks.

Marcei approached the two of them just as Hobart snapped his goggles over his eyes and announced, 'Prepare the Micro Mechachicken!'

His assistant, Greely, was a pretty goblin who deserved more credit than she got for putting up with this guy. 'You don't have to yell, Hobart,' she replied. 'I'm standing right here. Sheesh!'

'What's going on?' Marcei asked, stopping beside her.

Greely spared her a quick glance, as she punched a big, red button. 'You'll see.'

A baby raptor was sitting on a little bed just beside the machine. It watched with a look of curiosity, making funny squawking noises. When Marcei finally paid it some heed however, she nearly did a double take. It was _talking_. The hatchling swiveled its head around to look at her, and chattered a bit. 'What does "rogue" mean?' it asked. 'Are you the goblin matriarch?'

'I - what?' Marcei said confusedly.

'Don't mind her,' Greely said, waving her off. 'That's Subject Nine. I'm pretty sure she can read minds or something. But that's not the point - look at this.' She pointed to the machine as she turned a few more dials.

The machine crackled dramatically, and just like that, a chicken appeared.

Marcei paused. 'Where did -'

'Basic teleportation device,' Greely said quickly, now pulling down switches and levers. 'Now watch.' She turned to Hobart. 'There. One Micro Mechachicken. I'll never understand how you come up with these names.'

'There is a great deal that you do not understand, Miss Greely,' Hobart said smoothly, primping himself a little. 'That is why you are the assistant and I . . . I am Hobart Grapplehammer!'

Greely sighed and rolled her eyes.

'Yes, Doctor Grapplehammer,' she said tiredly.

'Excellent. Now back away from the Ultra Concave Fissionable Testing Platform. Slowly, if you please.'

Greely shook her head, but stepped back a little.

'Thank you. Now behold as I stabilise the highly unstable miniaturisation process.' He jabbed at a few buttons, continuing to talk. 'I am going to end the horrible problem of food storage cutting into the profits of the Bilgewater Cartel!'

He turned, giving Marcei and Greely a knowledgeable nod.

'I'll soon be revered as the greatest goblin tinker of all time. Besides, that negligence case involving the creation of the gilgoblins will never stick.'

Finally, he looked up at Greely again.

'Flip the switch!'

Greely coughed. 'Um, Hobart, you're at the controls.

Hobart blinked, before looking back at the array of buttons and knobs on the panel. He quickly recovered, however. 'Quite right, Greely. You passed today's pop quiz.'

Greely pulled a funny expression.

'I am now flipping the switch!' he announced. The machine then began to vibrate, filling the whole room with a low humming.

'Greely, can you feel it?' he asked excitedly. 'My moment of success is at hand! Grocery store owners everywhere will owe me a percentage of their profits!'

He moved to another lever. 'I'm flipping the second switch!'

The coils crackled even louder, shooting purple rays towards the centre of the platform. Something began to pop, and the chicken began to swell in size.

'Wait. . .' Hobart said, listening. 'Something's wrong!'

'Ya think?' Greely snapped. 'Hobart, the Micro Mechachicken is destabilising. It's expanding!'

'I know . . . I know!' Hobart yelled back. 'Where's the override? The override?'

'It's the one on the far right. Hurry, Hobart! It's going to eggsplode!'

'Here goes nothing,' Hobart said, reaching for the button. 'I always loved you, Greely!'

'WHAT?!'

'Flipping the override switch now!' Hobart yelled, stuffing his fingers in his ears.

The room was shaken with a bang. Marcei covered her ears, wincing.

After a moment, Hobart tentatively looked up. 'Are we still alive?'

'We're still alive, Doctor Grapplehammer, despite your best efforts,' Greely said, inspecting the machine.

Hobart regained some of his composure. 'Well of course we are, my dear Greely. And look there,' he said, pointing. 'The Micro Mechachicken's stabiliser appears to be a complete success!'

Greely raised an eyebrow. 'Is that egg on your face?'

Hobart's jaw dropped open, and he grabbed a nearby rag, wiping his face clean of egg.

'Now what's this about you "always loved me," Grapplehammer?' Greely asked.

'I haven't the foggiest notion what you're talking about, Miss Greely,' Hobart said, turning back to the machine.

'We can both agree on that, doctor,' Greely said, looking relieved.

Shaking her head and laughing, Marcei stuffed her hands into her pockets and turned away to the Headquarters' dining pavilion. If Ace was going to be anywhere, it was most likely to be where the food was.

Izzy and Ace were sitting at a table at the far end of the room, which she hadn't noticed before; Ace, a brimming plate of steak in front of him, and a bowl of . . . was that _chocolate_? They both had their heads together, and were quietly discussing something. Marcei strode over to them.

'Hey guys.' She nicked a piece of chocolate from the bowl and popped it in her mouth.

'Hey Marce,' Izzy said, also grabbing some chocolate. 'What's up?'

'_We_,' Marcei said, emphasising the word, 'have been sent to beat some more people up.'

Ace groaned and leaned back in his chair. 'Been there, done that.'

'That was your fault, not mine.'

'So this time it was your fault?'

'No. It's the scum who don't pay up their debts.'

Ace sat up again, looking mildly interested. 'I'm listening.'

Marcei rolled her eyes. 'We're going to Drudgetown. You guys in?'

Izzy and Ace looked at each other, and an unspoken message passed between them. Izzy turned back to her and nodded. 'We're in.'

After that, Ace was in seemingly higher spirits; the damage caused to his face had been cleaned up, and he'd inhaled enough food to feed an army.

'Three on one! This'll be a piece of cake!'

'What, are you saying you can't do it yourself?' Marcei asked, a smirk pulling at her mouth.

'Course I can! Never suggest something like that! If you'd given me a few more minutes, Id've polished off ol' Punkface real good.'

'Okay, fine. Whatever you say.'

Ace wandered outside and jumped into the hot rod. Marcei and Izzy exchanged amused glances, before following.

Drudgetown was west of the KTC Headquarters. If Marcei really wanted to, she could have scratched taking a road, and shot straight off the side of the hill, landing in a dumpster or something. But she had a reputation. Do future Trade Princesses hang around in dumpsters? Uh, no. So, sadly, she took the road, accelerating the speed limit by at least a hundred.

Drudgetown stunk. In fact, it stunk so badly, Ace had something to say about it.

'Marcei, when you're gettin' the top job, you're bulldozing these slums.'

'I think so.'

'That's the spirit, toots.'

'_Ace_.'

'Who's on the list?' Izzy asked.

'The list? Oh, uh, here.' Marcei passed the sheet of paper to the backseat, and Izzy read through it.

'Bruno Flameretardant . . .'

Ace snorted. 'I know that bloke. Absolute bugger. We gambled once, and he wouldn't cough up my winnings.'

Izzy glared at him until he went silent, and kept reading. 'Frankie Gearslipper, Jack the Hammer . . . and Sudsy Magee.' She looked up. 'Hey, isn't Sudsy Candy's old boyfriend? Before Tattoo Face?'

Marcei shrugged. 'Wouldn't be surprised. How many has she had now?'

'Twenty six, give or take.'

Ace shifted uncomfortably.

'I think Jack the Hammer's a hobgoblin,' Marcei continued. 'I think Gobber's mentioned him, if that's what I've managed to extract from the grunting.'

Izzy snickered.

'Anyway, if-,'

'We have a runner!' Ace cried, pointing to a goblin in a purple, zebra skin brimmed hat, and a matching robe. The said goblin did try to make a run for it upon spotting Marcei. Before she could do anything however, Ace had vaulted out of the back seat, and was chasing after him. Marcei sighed, and stamped on the brakes. The hot rod screamed to a stop, and she climbed out, Izzy behind her. The goblin had retreated to a rough purple tent, overflowing with boxes of merchandise. Ace strode purposefully toward him, and he shouted, 'I'm tryin' to run a business here!'

Ace punched him, and he crumpled, sporting a fabulously bleeding nose. 'Not the face, not the face!'

'Too late, Magee,' Ace growled, deliberately sounding intimidating. Seriously, if anyone wasn't freaked out even _slightly_ by that tone, they weren't sane. He turned back towards Marcei and grinned. Marcei gave an exasperated smile, and beckoned him over with her finger. He obliged, and came over saying, 'I don't think he's gonna forget about his debts again!'

'That is, if he's around for that long,' Marcei replied looking down at her list. 'Which one was that?'

'Sudsy.'

'Ah.'

Bruno Flameretardant wasn't as easily beaten down. When Ace punched at him, he ducked, before punching back. Ace came out victorious, but more black and blue than he had been earlier.

Jack the Hammer was indeed a hobgoblin, and a blue one at that. He was different to Gobber in most respects, and certainly more aggressive. Though he wouldn't admit it, Ace needed help in that battle.

Frankie Gearslipper was the bigger issue. Ace wouldn't punch a girl, so Izzy stepped forward, and the issue was solved through intense swearing and profuse insults. When this dragged on for so long that Marcei was getting bored, she picked up a wrench and bashed Frankie over the head, hard enough to knock her out, and cause half of her Mohawk to flatten.

Ace found it incredibly funny that Izzy didn't throw any punches. Izzy told Ace to "goblin up," because he wouldn't punch a female. They bickered for a few minutes, until Marcei threatened to hit them with the wrench too. Then they shifted Frankie's unconscious body away from the road, and turfed her behind a crate.

'And that,' Marcei said, dusting off her hands, 'is how you deal with goblins that uh, _forget_ to pay debt.'

* * *

The concept in itself was funny enough to calm Sassy's nerves. The goblin doubled over laughing, and couldn't stop giggling for several minutes. In the end, Marcei had to get her a glass of Kaja'Cola.

'A complete success if I do say so myself, ma'am! Your debtors will think twice now about not paying up!

Sassy tapped her pencil against her lower lip, the Kaja'Cola obviously kicking in.

'Perhaps we should increase interest rates on loans across the board?'


	5. To Endure The Horrors Of Shopping

**I hate this chapter. I genuinely do. And I know all of you will too. Why? Well, for one, no battles, of any sort. Two – shopping. I apologise, because as I am doing just about every quest, this was unavoidable. But, this is only a small roadblock in the big picture. We **_**will**_** get there. Eventually.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

After that, Marcei desperately needed to crash. Yes, she was aware that it wasn't even eleven in the morning, but she didn't sleep at all the night before. Yeah, that was _kind _of stupid, but . . . well . . . she had no excuse. She had just happened to get a little bit carried away with her endeavour planning.

So, she had intended to take a brief, ten minute power nap, get up again, and continue with life and her incredibly long "to do" list. Unfortunately, those ten minuted happened to turn into two hours.

When she had finally stirred, rubbed her eyes blearily, and rather absently looked at her clock on the wall opposite, only then did she realise what had happened. Swearing profusely, she rolled out of bed amidst a tangled of blankets, and stumbled out of the doorway.

'Argh!'

Still unable to see properly, Marcei ploughed straight into someone. A rather _familiar _someone.

'Woah. Sweetie, where have you been? You know how worried I get when you don't check in with me.' Chip held her by the shoulders to steady her, and grinned.

'I been sleepin' . . .' She stumbled a little, and he caught her again.

'So, wassup? You ready for the party?'

'_Chip._ What? Wait . . . party? Oh . . . of course not. Seriously, I just woke up. Stupid party . . .'

'No?' He looked so shocked that Marcei almost laughed. Except she was too tired to do so.

'You know I love you,' Chip said, 'so I don't know how to say this, but check it . . . I think you need to swing into town to buy a new outfit for the party.'

Marcei folded her arms and gave him her best glare; which was hard to do, considering she was still half asleep, and her braid she had been wearing earlier had half tumbled out and gone rather frizzy. And she was a great deal shorter than him. She knew she didn't look very intimidating.

'Don't look at me like that,' Chip pleaded. 'You want to look _good_, right? Don't you want to look super fine for me?'

With that, Marcei's resolve crumbled, and he'd won. Again. It was impossible to stay mad with him. She smiled, and let him pull her into a hug.

'Swing by the bank first and pull out plenty of macaroons. You don't want to buy any of that cheap stuff.'

'But bank lines are so long!'

Chip scoffed. 'Y'know, 'cause it's you, they'll probably let ya straight through. You'd be in and out in a minute, weighed down with so much moolah that you can't see over the top of it!'

Marcei gave a small laugh at the thought, and pulled away. 'Okay then. I'll be off, just let me shower first.'

* * *

Half an hour later, Marcei bounded downstairs and out the front door of KTC. Izzy was waiting outside, the promise of a shopping trip being enough to motivate her.

'Come _on_!' Izzy moaned. 'You're taking too long!'

'I can always take Ace with me,' Marcei warned.

'No, you won't, because he's so colour-blind that you'll end up with the worst dress in existence! Besides, I've got some ideas, and I know the tailor to take you to.'

'Are you implying that _Ace_ is better at choosing clothes than I am?'

'Face it hon, you're dreadful with colour matching.'

'Fine. Whatever. But we've gotta drop by the bank first, though.'

'_Marcei_!'

The First Bank of Kezan was a large steel building that always had a long line of customers; irrelevant to the time of day. Or night, for that matter. Marcei shoved open the front doors, and pushed her way through the crowd of goblins.

'Oof!'

A goblin looked up hastily from the papers he was shuffling through, and his eyes widened when he saw Marcei.

'Oh, it's you, ma'am! Sorry, I didn't recognise you at first with all these commoners milling about.'

He clipped a loudspeaker from his belt and shouted, 'You people cool your heels! Marcei is here!'

He gestured for her to follow him. 'This way ma'am.'

He slid in behind the counter, and punched a few buttons on the giant vault behind him. 'How much do you need?

''Bout ten stacks.'

'Okay then.' He pulled the moolah from the vault and slid it across the counter towards her. 'Here are your macaroons, ma'am. Come back any time if you need more.'

Marcei thanked him, and shoved the macaroons into a bag.

Izzy was waiting impatiently outside, tapping her foot.

'Took ya long enough!' she groaned.

'Hey, I got instant service! You could've been waiting a lot longer.'

Izzy muttered something under her breath, and got into the hot rod. 'C'mon, let's go. We have shopping to do!'

Marcei groaned. 'Do I really have to go to this party?'

Izzy's jaw dropped, and she fixed Marcei with an expression of the utmost horror. 'I'm sorry, _what_?'

'I _said_, do I really have to go to this party?'

'Hon . . . there's something wrong with you. Something _really_ wrong.'

'I'd rather be killing people I don't like. Gallywix, for instance.'

'Shh!' Izzy hissed. 'Not here! You can rant and rave about him all you want when we get home. Just _not here_!'

Marcei rolled her eyes, and slid into the front seat of the hot rod. 'Fine. Let's go shopping.'

* * *

Marcei hated shopping. Genuinely. She also hated dresses. They were impractical, and flimsy, and, well, you get the idea. Izzy however, loved shopping. And dresses. And making herself a prime boy toy. It wasn't hard with her, either. She had reddish-purple hair that was most often pulled up into a few ponytails. She had full lips, bright eyes, a pointed nose, and olive green skin. Quite the looker, really.

Swindle Street was Kezan's main shopping district. It was brightly lit, with ropes of brightly colored bulbs strung over the road like overhead power lines. Many shops had artificial lawn in an attempt to draw in customers (the day you see a blade of real grass on Kezan, you know you're going crazy). One of these was owned by a famous clothing designer who went by Szabo. Izzy insisted that Marcei went to Szabo for her dress, and Marcei, knowing that to go with it was the best option for her health, grudgingly agreed.

Marcei pulled up the hot rod outside of Szabo's shopfront, and Izzy bolted out so fast she must have gotten whiplash. She pulled out Marcei's door, and ushered her into the shop.

'Szabo?'

A grunt came from the back room and Szabo emerged. He was a stocky, well-built goblin, with red hair, and plenty of bling. He sighed when he saw Marcei, and shook his head with a faint look of disgust on his face.

'Look what I have to work with. Szabo can perform miracles?' He sighed again. 'Yes, yes. Szabo thinks he can do something for you.'

Izzy grinned appreciatively, and slapped some macaroons down on the counter. 'Szabo, she needs a hip, new outfit for the party she's throwing. I'm thinking this week's magazine, the one on page five.'

Szabo pursed his lips and grabbed Marcei by the wrist, dragging her into the back room. He ushered her up onto a box, and grabbed some purple satin, pinning it up around her. Once he was satisfied with the layout of the material, he picked up a large pair of tailor's shears, and began carefully snipping the material.

An hour later, Marcei was wrapped up in an elegant dress that exposed the majority of her back, and highlighted her slimness very nicely.

'Oh, just look at what Szabo has done,' Szabo cried. 'A masterpiece! You are not worthy of such an outfit, but Szabo needs the money.' He sighed.

A customer that was in the front room yelled, 'Szabo, she is so _hot_ right now!'

Izzy pursed her lips, and forked over another stack of moolah. She turned over to Marcei.

'Come on girl. We still have more shopping to do.'

Marcei stuffed the dress into a bag, and they went out to the hot rod. 'Well, he was _nice_.'

'I never said he was,' Izzy stated pointedly. 'I just said that he was the best.'

* * *

Missa Spekkies and Gappy Silvertooth were plenty nicer. Because of her status, they gave her the bling she needed at half price.

Missa Spekkies was a sunglasses merchant who also did her trading on Swindle Street. She lived in a dome shaped house slightly up the road, with her shop area set up outside. She had a couple of spinning racks brimming with shades, and a few tables overloaded with them. Missa did rather well in the trade, and needed large stocks. The result otherwise wasn't very pleasant. Marcei had witnessed it firsthand. The simplest way of putting it was that Missa wasn't the _original_ sunglasses tradesman. The poor bloke had a rather unfortunate fate.

Missa was perched on a wooden crate behind her table of stocks, her messy, red-brown hair swept into a rough ponytail, held up with a few skull-shaped clips. She wore a pair of silver shades with pink lenses, a white blouse with a navy vest, and a pair of knee length jeans.

Upon spotting Marcei, she gave a wry smile, and slid off of her crate.

'I gots all kinds of brands of shades. You name it, I sell it.'

Izzy looked at Marcei, and gestured to Missa with her eyes. _Well? I'm not gonna do everything for you!_

'Uh . . .' Marcei looked over the tables, but nothing jumped out at her. 'I need something that looks good,' she said with a grimace. Hell, she didn't know _what_ looked good! 'What will two stacks of macaroons get me?'

Missa turned around and prised open the top of the crate she was sitting on, before digging through it. When she surfaced, she brought a silver pair of shades with her.

'Here yous go,' she said, plopping them on the table in front of Marcei. 'My best pair, and I'm giving them to ya cheap! Yous gonna look sharp in them.'

Izzy picked up the sunglasses, and inspected them with a critical eye. Then she gave a satisfied smile, and dug two stacks of moolah from her bag, sliding them across the table to Missa. Then she turned to Marcei, and promptly handed them over.

'There you go, hon. Top quality shades, right there.'

Marcei rolled her eyes, and stuffed them in her bag with her dress. 'Whatever. We need'a go. The sooner this is all over, the better.'

Izzy sighed in exasperation. 'You're impossible.'

Marcei ignored her, shot Missa a quick wave, and turned back to the hot rod, chucking the bag of merchandise in the back seat.

'Is that all I need?' Marcei asked pointedly, sliding into her own seat.

'Not yet. You need some bling. Phat, shiny bling.'

'Urgh.'

* * *

Phat, shiny bling? Apparently Izzy had a very specific definition when it came to "phat" and "shiny." Nothing that your basic jewellery seemed to cover.

Gappy Silvertooth was uh . . . _different_. Marcei was never entirely sure why there was a row of blue, inflatable _pool ponies _in his front yard, but she wasn't going to question it. Kezan had its weird bunch, and well . . .

Like at Missa's house, there was a table of merchandise set out by the front door, and as the hot rod pulled to a stop, Gappy surfaced from behind it. With his dark hair, and rather large nose ring, he looked like a rather intimidating character, however when he saw Marcei, a satisfied grin split his face.

'Yo! You look like a woman of discerning tastes. What can I do you for?'

For the third time, Izzy hauled Marcei out of the car, and examined the several rows of jewellery intently. After a short while, she looked up, looking incredulous.

'Is this all?! Don't you have anything phat? Shiny?'

'Course I do! Who do you take me for?'

'Well, then set her up with the phattest, shiniest bling you got!'

Gappy laughed. 'Well then! A customer who actually _knows_ what she wants! I hate those buggers who stand around for an hour or two, and never decide! Well miss, I'll give ya my best!'

And with that, he retrieved a wooden box from below the table, and slid it over to Marcei. He patted the top of the box like a proud parent. 'That bling is phat like your momma!'

Marcei sighed, and shook her head, and dumped three stacks of macaroons on the counter. Then she turned back to Izzy.

'Are we _done_ now?'

Izzy grumbled. 'Fine. Let's go back to KTC.'

'_Thank you!'_


	6. To Repair Shredders And Watch Footbomb

**Okay, for once, instead of just getting my details by watching gameplays on YouTube, I decided to actually play the game all over again. For some reason, when I watched a video (perhaps it was the really small screen, I dunno) but I got the idea that there was some kind of fight when you pick up Ace in "Rolling with my Homies." So, I went and incorporated that into the story. When I played it , I realised that they were actually the "Ridiculously Good Looking,' and I sort of went 'oh.' But I really liked what I had, so instead of changing it, I brought in the RGL in this chapter. So, hopefully this sorta makes up for that mistake.**

**Okay, Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 6**_

Marcei had rarely been more relieved. Shopping couldn't have been a worse ordeal, though, thankfully, it was over.

Izzy was sitting in the back amidst all of the shopping, pouting. If it had been her choice, they would have kept on going, and bought enough stuff to fill a Kaja'Cola factory. Meaning a lot.

Marcei sped up the hill to KTC at about 100 miles an hour, almost taking out one or two citizens who were stupid enough to wander on the road.

'Stupid shopping . . . stupid party . . . _stupid_ pedestrians . . .'

'What?' Izzy bellowed over the wind.

'Nothing!' she yelled back.

Marcei swerved into a U turn, and slammed on the brakes outside of KTC. Izzy bounced out and scurried off without another word. Marcei leaned over her seat, and scooped up the shopping bags, before rolling out herself, and going into Headquarters. Sassy was inside, still poring over some papers.

'Sassy, you seen Chip?'

Sassy looked up, startled. 'Boss! Um, I think Chip's in the cafeteria. I think. Don't hold me to it.'

Marcei nodded, and poked her head through the cafeteria doorway. 'Chip?'

Chip was talking to Ace, yet they were evidently arguing. Chip had a scowl on his face, and was saying something. Ace was running his hands through his blonde hair, which he did when he was angry and had, if possible, an even bigger glare.

At the mention of his name, Chip looked up, and his expression changed to a grin in a nanosecond.

'Babe!'

And with that, he sashayed over, casually throwing a smirk at Ace as he did so. Ace looked as though he were steadily being filled with boiling water, and with one final scathing look, he stormed off.

Marcei frowned, and watched Ace leave. 'What's going on? What happened?'

'Nothing. Ace and me just had a little . . . disagreement, that's all.'

Marcei could tell he was lying, but didn't press the issue. She could ask Ace later.

'Okay. Anyway, I have the stuff. Nothing cheap – I spend a great lot of moolah on it all.'

Chip pulled the dress out of its bag and inspected it. 'Oh yeah, you're going to look hot! You're going to replace the Trade Prince any day now at the rate you're going! I can't wait to be a kept man!'

Marcei gave a smile, and folded her arms, listening to him ramble on.

'Anyway,' Chip said, 'let me have all that stuff and I'll help you get into it right before the party.'

Marcei all-too-happily passed over the bags and rubbed her sore shoulders, letting a moan of relief escape her lips. Chip laughed.

'I'll leave you to it then, babe,' he said. 'I still have some work to do; I'll see you later.'

She nodded and left.

* * *

Marcei went Ace-hunting. She wasn't too keen on the fact the he and Chip were arguing, and she really needed to know why. Badly.

'Ace!' She poked her head out of the front door, and looked around. Just as she stepped off the front porch, Megs shot out from nowhere, and skidded to a stop in front of her.

'Hey boss! You looking for mince-face?'

'Mince-face? Oh, yeah, right. Where is he?'

'Coach Crosscheck needed him. He's gone down to the Kajaro field 'cause apparently "the division title against the Steamwheedle Sharks is on the line and he's the only one who can bring it home for us".'

'Okay, just wait a moment. _What_ sport are we talking 'bout here?'

'Footbomb.' Megs gave her a look that said _duh._ 'You know, the Bilgewater Buccaneers_._ Our _team?_'

'Oh, _footbomb. _Gotcha.'

Megs gave an exasperated sigh, with a look on her face that said, _seriously?_ Marcei rolled her eyes in response, and stuck her head back inside Headquarters.

'Izzy!'

There was a yell from the other end of the building, and the sounds of a scuffle ensued. Marcei crossed her arms and waited, tapping her foot impatiently. After a few minutes, Izzy barrelled outside, and stopped in front of her.

'What is it, toots? Don't tell me you interrupted my necessary social time for no reason.'

Marcei huffed. 'Don't call me that. It's bad enough that Ace says it.'

Izzy sniggered. 'Whatever, hon.'

Marcei pursed her lips, and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her out to the hot rod. 'Come on. We're going down to the Kajaro Field. Ace is down there.'

Izzy sniggered again, and Marcei rounded on her. '_What?!'_

'You have no idea . . .'

'No idea about what – no _seriously, _what the _hell_ are you talking about?' she snapped, as Izzy started laughing again.

'You just – oh wow.' Her laughing became so uncontrollable that Marcei had to thump her on the back.

'We are going,' she snarled, 'because your insanity is absolutely . . . _insane_.'

Izzy laughed again and with that, Marcei shoved her into the back of the hot rod, and got into the front.

* * *

Kajaro Field was roughly in the middle of Kezan, practically in the centre of a large roundabout. The actual playing field itself was made up of fake turf. The grandstands were filled with goblins, and the noise level was pretty high. Half of the Bilgewater Buccaneers were sitting on a bench, nursing various injuries. Their respective shredders were smashed and smoking.

Marcei got out of the hot rod, and ran over to the bench. Ace was there.

'Ace!'

He looked up with a tired expression. 'Hey, toots.'

Marcei felt herself go slightly greener, and glared at Izzy, who backed away with her hands raised defensively. 'Okay, I've got the point!'

Marcei groaned and looked back at Ace. 'What's going on?'

He winced. 'Ask Coach.'

Miraculously, Coach Crosscheck appeared right behind him as he said that. 'What are these people doing here – why! If it isn't the goblin herself! Marcei!'

Coach's red and white footbomb uniform was covered in grass stains, and some areas were charred and smouldering.

'I need a favour, my girl. There's no time to waste. We need to get one of these shredders back in working order. We need Ace to win the game and the title for us!'

Marcei looked over at the shredders. They were two legged, walking machines with a seat at the top, and two metal arms to throw the footbomb. The condition some of them were in was indescribable. She turned back to him and nodded.

'My guys are all on the injured roster. Our shredders are all kaput. The ref is about to call the game! It's down to the wire and I need you, Marcei.' He stressed those last few sentences, waving his arms around as he did so.

Coach walked over to the nearest shredder and lugged it over to the sidelines.

'Let's get one of these shredders in working condition. There are replacement parts all over Bilgewater Port. Any green-blooded Kezanian will gladly let you have them if there's a chance that the Buccaneers will win.' He fixed her with a steely look of determination. 'We'll show those no-good Steamwheedle Sharks how to play footbomb!'

* * *

With that, Marcei and Izzy hunted all over town, desperately looking for yellow crates of replacement parts. At first, most goblins weren't too keen on giving them to them, however, once the seriousness of the situation was explained, they happily let them take them.

Roughly five minutes after leaving (yeah, they were pretty quick) they were back at Kajaro Field, with several crates piled into the back of the hot rod.

When they came, Coach ran over and helped them unload.

'That's my girl,' he said. 'Now let's get one of these useless hunks of metal in working order and Ace into the game!'

They unpacked the necessary parts, and Marcei used them to repair the shredder so it would last long enough to win the game. Coach then looked around shiftily, and stuffed in some odd looking footbombs. He went over to Ace, and Marcei followed.

'We're down to our last shredder,' he said. Ace nodded to show he was listening. 'While no one was looking, I loaded it up with, shall we say, modified footbombs. Kid, I need you to get in that shredder and give 'em heck!'

Ace grinned and leapt up from the bench, before wrapping Marcei up in a tight hug, leaving her rather flustered.

'For luck,' he whispered in her ear.

She nodded, and pushed him away saying, 'This game ain't gonna win itself, bucko! Get out there!'

Ace laughed, and ran off, vaulting up into the shredder. Izzy then hustled Marcei up into the grandstands, hissing, 'Come _on_! We don't wanna miss it!'

With its replacements, Ace's shredder fired its extra-explosive footbombs at the Steamwheedle Sharks, and blew them up easily. The lot of them were disposed of in two minutes, with one minute until the end of the game.

'You did it, kid!' Coach shouted. 'Now all we need to do is score a goal and the title is ours!'

Ace nodded, and turned back to the goalposts, with a look of determination on his face.

'Wait!' Coach shouted. He ran up to the sidelines, and Marcei followed.

'It's all up to you, kid, he muttered. 'You demolished the Steamwheedle Sharks, so now all that's left to do is to kick the winning goal.

'Now, just between you and me, I think we should do this one right. I don't want you to just kick a goal... I want you to kick it so far it sails between the two smokestacks behind the goal! I've modified the footbomb to give you the extra power that you'll need. Make me proud!'

Ace gave a good natured laugh at the idea, and turned his shredder to face the goal and the smokestacks. The Bilgewater supporters began cheering loudly, and Ace fired the footbomb. It soared high, and flew between the smokestacks easily.

Suddenly, the sky turned dark and the ground began to shake. The huge shape of a leviathan was just slightly visible above Mount Kajaro.

'Deathwing,' Marcei breathed. She had heard tales about the aspect from more ancient days, and it seemed this was the only beast that could be fitted to his title. She felt a surge of hatred – the dragon had enslaved many goblins to do his bidding at that time, and so, _so_ many were killed.

'Why's the ground shaking, Marcei?' Izzy whispered.

'The sun has set on this mortal world, fools!' Deathwing roared. 'Make peace with your end, for the hour of twilight falls!' He flew into the darkness behind the mountain, and disappeared.

There was uproar. There were screaming goblins everywhere, and the field was crowded with those desperate to escape. Ace leaped out of his shredder, and ran over to her.

'What was that thing, toots?' he shouted.

'Deathwing!' Marcei shouted back. 'What _else_ would it be?'

Coach turned to Ace. 'You did it, kid. You _really_ did it! We won the game and . . .'

He turned to Marcei, the terror so apparent on his face that it was almost comical. 'Did you see that _dragon_?!'

'_Yes_ I saw that dragon!' she shrieked. The goblin was _losing his bloody mind!_

He continued to look panicked, so she thumped him upside the head. He shook himself violently, and had the grace to look embarrassed.

'Right, uh, so . . . I'd celebrate with you, Marcei, but it feels like that dragon did a number on ol' Mount Kajaro. I . . . uh . . . I think I'm gonna grab my stuff and get on the first ship leaving the island.

'Anyways, you lot should probably head back to headquarters and let Sassy know that you won the footbomb title for us. I'm sure she'll also want to know about the dragon and Mount Kajaro. Good luck!'

With that, he turned and hightailed out of sight. Marcei looked back at Ace and Izzy. 'We should go, guys. Sassy'll need to know, if she hasn't heard it already.'

They nodded, and got into the hot rod.

* * *

On the trip back to KTC, Marcei remembered something.

'Ace?'

In the wing mirror, she saw him look up. 'Yeah?'

'What were you and Chip doing earlier?'

Ace turned a funny shade of green, and shook his head. 'Don't worry about it. You won't believe me anyway.'

Marcei quirked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Suddenly, a sight to her left made her burst out laughing. The goblins who usually ran around spraying each other with cans of some sort of undefinable green substance, and called themselves the "Ridiculously Good-Looking," were, as usual, running around. However, this time they were screaming and throwing their cans away. One such can happened to hit a nearby pile of explosives and blow up the unfortunate goblin next to it.

Ace winced. 'Ah, there goes me mate Benny.'

Izzy turned to him with a raised eyebrow. 'Was he actually your mate?'

'Maybe.'

'Was he actually called Benny?'

'Well, I dunno. I'd say ask him, but he's not exactly there to ask anymore, is he?'

Izzy rolled her eyes. 'Were you with that lot this morning? Before "Incident Candy Cane?"'

Ace shrugged indifferently. 'What about it?'

Izzy burst out laughing. 'You? With the Ridiculously Good Looking?'

Ace started to object, but Marcei interrupted him. 'In case you've forgotten, you pair of _trolls_, we were nearly fried by a dragon. If anything, you should at least be _worried_.'

'Are _you_ worried, toots?' Ace inquired with a sly grin.

'Yes I _am, _actually,' Marcei snapped back. 'Now would you shut up?'

Just as he started to answer, they pulled up to Headquarters, and Marcei got out of the hot rod and went inside, leaving him talking to empty space.

Sassy was sprawled over her desk, asleep. Her hand was on top of a large pile of papers and her hair was ruffled. Marcei shook her awake.

'Gah!' She sat up, her eyes wild and her "Executive Assistant" badge crooked. 'Boss! I, uh . . .' She looked down at her papers, and began shuffling them up hurriedly, looking rather embarrassed. 'I'm so sorry boss! I just –.'

'It doesn't matter, Sassy. Something important came up.'

A pint of blood drained from her face, and she sat back in her chair, rubbing one hand over her face. 'What is it?'

'Deathwing appeared just before. The ground won't stop shaking.'

Sassy stayed quiet, letting that sink it. Suddenly her head snapped up, and she looked panicked.

'You're kidding, right? _Deathwing?'_

She took a breath, and calmed herself down slightly. 'Okay, this'll work out just fine. We'll throw your party and by the time it's over I'm sure that the dragon will be long gone and the ground will stop shaking.' She stopped and thought for another moment. 'If not, we can always charter a ship off of the island.'


	7. To Fight Pirates With Explosives

**Heh. Now things are rolling. I say that a lot, don't I?**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 7**_

'Oh, just look at you!' Izzy whispered excitedly. She spun Marcei around so she could look in the mirror. Her purple dress fitted perfectly, just brushing her feet, her bling caught the light, causing spots to dance around the room, and her shades were currently propped up in her hair, which Izzy had styled into a delicate weave on top of her head, threaded with silver. The whole ensemble worked perfectly. The tiresome shopping trip of doom was actually worth it.

The problem was that Izzy had decided to attack her face with makeup. She had used some sticky, black stuff on her eyes, which was supposedly made her look very attractive, and "brought out the blue" in her irises. Which wasn't true. Her eyes were green, end of story. After using lipstick, Marcei had to draw the line.

A knock sounded at the door. 'Now?' Chip called.

'No!' Izzy yelled back.

About two hours ago, Izzy had steered Marcei into her room to get her ready. Chip had bashed on the door at roughly ten to twenty minute intervals, asking if she was ready yet. Each time, Izzy had shrieked "no," and to "go away."

'I just can't wait for Ace to see you!' Izzy whispered in a shrill voice.

Marcei quirked an eyebrow. 'Why Ace?'

'I, uh, because he's your friend,' Izzy backtracked. 'Anyway,' she said, regaining her composure. '_Now_ you can go out.'

Marcei pushed open the door to find Chip, who was dressed in a tuxedo, and tapping his fingers against his thigh, looking rather stressed. When he saw Marcei, he almost stumbled over in surprise.

'Oh wow, baby!' he said with a grin. 'Look at you! I'm the luckiest boyfriend on the island!'

Marcei grinned.

Chip absently pointed out the window, still ogling her. 'Everyone is here. Who cares about some stupid dragon?'

He finally snapped his head up and looked her in the eyes. 'We set up the party around the pool. Sounds like they're having a great time already. You are going to look so fine!'

'Why don't you head over to the pool and keep everyone entertained? I'll join you in a moment . . . I just have to grab my stuff.'

Marcei pulled a quizzical expression. 'But aren't you ready?'

'I, uh, yeah. I just have to get something. Really, I'll meet you down there.'

He was acting a bit weird, Marcei decided. Something was up, but she was going to let it slide. For now. 'Alright, fine.'

'Great!' He grinned at her. 'I'll see you in a bit.'

He turned and disappeared through a doorway.

Izzy grabbed her by the hand. 'Come on, hon. We've got a party to go to!'

* * *

At the pool, there didn't seem to be an empty space. Goblins were everywhere, and they all seemed to know one another.

Just before Izzy could disappear into the thick of it all, Marcei grabbed her arm.

'How do I keep them entertained?' she hissed.

'I dunno! Make small talk!' Izzy hissed back.

With that, she wriggled out of her grip, and disappeared. Marcei groaned. Make _small talk? _How on earth was she supposed to do that?

Before she could figure something out, she was pulled into a group of goblins. _Right, small talk_, she thought.

'Ah,' she looked up with a forced grin. 'Uh, nice weather we're having. . .'

* * *

Thankfully, she didn't have to do this for long. When Sassy spotted her, she came to the rescue.

'How's the party going?' she asked.

'I dunno,' Marcei replied. 'Nothing bad has come up yet, so I s'pose that's a good thing.'

Sassy laughed. 'Anyway, you look amazing!'

Marcei grinned but before she could reply, Sassy grabbed her by the upper arm and whispered in her ear, 'Ace is over there,' before disappearing.

Marcei blinked for a moment, confused, before looking in the direction that Sassy had gestured. Ace indeed, was over there, surrounded by his fellow "Ridiculously Good-Looking" kin. She made her way over to him.

'Ace!'

He looked up, and did a double take when he saw her, tripping over his own feet. Blushing furiously, he grinned, and acted as if nothing happened. 'Toots!'

It was Marcei's turn to blush now, and she pulled a _really?_ face.

'You uh, look great,' Ace said quickly. 'Really great.'

She grinned. 'Thanks.'

The silence was a little awkward, but was interrupted by Chip's arrival. 'Babe!'

Ace glared, and disappeared into the crowd. Chip watched him leave, looking satisfied. Marcei chose to pretend she hadn't noticed this, and struck up a conversation with him instead.

Eventually, Sassy made her way back to her. She looked a little disgruntled to see Chip instead of Ace, but quickly covered this. 'Very nicely done, ma'am. The party appears to have been a smashing success!'

There was a rumbling and crashing sound.

Sassy's ears perked up. 'Er . . . what's that?'

The pool's eastern wall crashed down, and a large throng of mixed beings gushed in.

Sassy shrieked. 'Oh my gosh! Pirates!'

Huh?

For some reason, Chip grinned at first when he spotted them. Then he looked at Marcei, and back at them, angry instead.

'Marcei!' Sassy yelled. 'You have to get in there and do something about this or your career, and any chance of you being the next Trade Princess, is going to be ruined!'

Marcei grabbed a long, sharp knife from the nearest table and charged into the throng, slashing and stabbing wherever she could. The pirates seemed to come from all areas of Azeroth; there were dark iron dwarves, humans, trolls, other goblins, and gnolls – damn, why _gnolls? _Marcei was willing to bet anything that it was the bunch that pulled up at port this morning – like Chip said.

The number of them seemed endless. Most of the partygoers had fled, leaving Marcei to deal with it all. She mainly attacked fatal areas; the heart, stomach and brain. Most of the pirates were so surprised she was fighting back, that they watched her, stunned, before getting killed.

Eventually one picked up on what was going on, and grabbed her from behind. She wriggled, and flipped out of his grip just as he almost slumped on top of her. She turned to find that Ace had put a meat cleaver through his head. She grinned in thanks, and flung her knife at a troll that was coming up behind him. Because of its unusually streamlined shape, it flew straight through his chest and into another's back. Both crumpled respectively.

Marcei looked over into the corner to her right, where several explosives were piled high. Dynamite really _did _seem to be everywhere.

'Ace!' she yelled, pointing to it. He looked at it and grinned, obviously getting the message.

As Marcei hacked and stabbed at the pirates, Ace grabbed some wiring and explosives. He wired them together, and tucked them down shirts and into boots, causing everything to become one big tangled mess. He then pulled out a lighter and held it to the nearest stick of dynamite.

'Fire in the hole!' he yelled, touching it to the fuse, before running. Marcei did the same.

The next few moments were rather indescribable. It was practically a blood and gore firework show, with a few bones added in like missiles. Marcei even pulled her shades down over her eyes.

When the last of the explosives wore off, Ace turned to her, a grin evident on his face.

'Yes!' he yelled, wrapping her up in a bear hug. Marcei laughed and hugged him back.

'Yes!' she screeched. They both laughed, jumping up and down like a pair of idiots, giddy with battle euphoria.

'Boss?' Sassy had returned, and was grinning at them like something in the sight pleased her. Marcei broke off from Ace and turned to her.

'They're gone, Sassy. We blew them up.'

Sassy smiled, but it was strained. 'That was close, boss. Unfortunately, I'm the bearer of more bad news.'

Marcei frowned, and looked at her inquiringly. Sassy winced.

'Please don't shoot me . . .'

She took a deep breath, and started. 'While you were dealing with the pirates, I noticed the Trade Prince slip upstairs. He's up on the balcony at the top of the stairs. Marcei, I think he's the one that sent the pirates.'

She cringed, as if she expected him to hear.

'You'd better get up there A.S.A.P. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting.'

She grimaced, and gave her an apologetic look.

Ace looked at Marcei. 'I think so too. You know what that bloke's like.'

Marcei nodded. 'Yeah.'


	8. To Scrape Together Some Moolah

**Hey!**

**Huge chapter here, but this is probably my favourite so far. Everything **_**is**_** kicking in now. Heh heh.**

**Okay, so I played through a little more of the game this morning (I play though as I write) and I was just looking around at the NPC's and stuff, and the Hobart and Greely dialogue is the best. I just had to include it. There's some more of it on the Lost Isles too. I think it's at Town-In-A-Box. Maybe. So, hope you enjoy.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 8  
**_

Marcei weaved through and bunny-hopped over the corpses that were still intact, and went over to KTC. She could see Gallywix on the balcony above her. With a grimace, she pulled open the front door. Hobart and Greely were still puttering around, apparently oblivious to the going-ons outside, and Greely was evidently still trying to worm an answer out of Grapplehammer about his declaration of love earlier.

'It was hours ago, Greely, and I really haven't the faintest what you're going on about!'

'But why did you say it, then? Because if you didn't say it, then I'm obviously going mad!'

'And mad you are, then!'

Stifling a laugh, Marcei ducked upstairs before they could spot her.

Gallywix was, as usual, sitting in his machine. Marcei wasn't entirely sure what to call it, so she had settle with that. It was big, with six legs, and a high back. He never seemed to get out of the damn thing, and Marcei was confused as to how he got it up the stairs. Maybe it could compact itself. She really didn't know.

Gallywix himself was a fairly fat goblin with sickly green skin, a heavy brow, long ears and hard eyes. His reddish hair was held up with a thick band in a short, high ponytail. He dressed himself according to his wealth; purple and gold tunic and shoulder guards, white, silk trousers, and leather boots.

As she stepped onto the landing, he turned his machine around, and gave a rather evil looking smile.

'Well, well, well, if it isn't my wayward protégé, Ms Marcei.'

Marcei folded her arms, and fixed him with a hard look. 'Did you need something?'

Gallywix smirked. 'I'm hurt and disappointed. You didn't send me an invitation to your little party out there.' He thought for a bit. 'Sorry about the crashers . . . you know how pirates can be. So, shall we get down to business?'

Marcei pursed her lips, and pulled out a chair. She smoothed out her dress, but most of it was ripped and torn anyway, so it didn't matter.

'You're an extremely ambitious young goblin, Marcei,' he started. 'Maybe a little too ambitious for your own good. I see a lot of myself in you when I was your age.'

'I have a proposition. You might have noticed that Mount Kajaro is exploding thanks to your dragon. Everyone on Kezan is going to die.' He stated that last fact with a small grin. 'But, if you bring me a bazillion macaroons before my yacht leaves the island, I'll make sure that you're one of the lucky few to escape.'

Marcei's eyes widened. _A bazillion_ _macaroons!_ Where on earth was she going to get all that?

Gallywix's eyes gleamed, his proposition obviously hitting its mark. 'If you want to live, you better hurry and figure out how to get me my moolah.'

Marcei felt the blood drain from her face. A bazillion macaroons . . . Sassy needed to know about this.

She ducked down the staircase where Sassy was waiting. Marcei hauled her outside, and told her the situation.

'_A bazillion macaroons?_ Where are we going to get that kind of moolah?' She bit her lip and thought for a bit. 'Um . . . did the Trade Prince say anything about letting me escape with you on his yacht?'

Marcei shrugged. 'I reckon you could come.'

She looked around. The rest of the members of KTC were all with them. Hobart and Greely were going through their various, chicken-related inventions, with Hobart in complete hysterics. Apparently, while she was upstairs, they had finally cottoned on to what had happened fifteen minutes ago.

'_Deathwing? The Cataclysm? _ We're doomed! We have to get off the island! Quick, Greely, grab the schematics! And my toothbrush!'

'I'm on it, doctor,' Greely said, shoving the said items into a suitcase. 'Schematics, check. Toothbrush, check.'

'You know what, get everything packed! We have to find a way off of Kezan before Mount Kajaro blows for good!' He paused as an idea hit him. 'We'll jump into the closest Town-In-A-Box! They'll load it on the Trade Prince's yacht!'

He stopped in his frantic running back and forth to acknowledge Marcei. 'The sky is falling!'

'Technically speaking, that's not true, doctor' Greely said as she shoved various mechanical nick-knacks into a bag. 'The rocks that fly out of a volcano like Mount Kajaro are called ejecta. It's not the sky. It's molten rock, or tephra. It cools as it descends, becoming lava bombs. Very appropriate, wouldn't you say?'

Marcei just looked at her incredulously, and Hobart ignored her.

'There's just not enough time to pack all of this stuff up!' he moaned. 'Grab only the important stuff! Where'd I put my Blastproof Underwater G-Ray Goggles?'

Greely looked up. 'Um, Hobart, you're wearing them.'

He absently patted them on the top of his head, and continued. 'How are we going to get Subject Nine through customs? I know! Pack her into the Lab-In-A-Box!'

'Right away,' Greely said, grabbing a box and the baby raptor Marcei had seen earlier. 'I'll flag the Lab-In-A-Box for deployment in Azshara. I'll pack her little cushion in with her too. She's so cute!'

'Now, whatever you do, don't let me forget my Ingenious Cap of Mook Foolery!' he added, as he started dismantling the Ultra Concave Fissionable Testing Platform. 'And pack up that box of explosive eggs! Can't leave them behind!'

'I will, I will,' Greely replied, quite like she had given up on listening at this point in time. 'But, Hobart, you have to _calm down_. You're blood pressure! You're turning deep green!'

Hobart clearly didn't care, and he kept on prattling.

'A party!' he very nearly shrieked, looking at Greely again, and clearly forgetting Marcei was there. 'Can you _believe _it? A _party_ and the _whole island_ is about to _explode? What are they thinking?!_'

'Yeah, a real party that I was actually invited to,' Greely grumbled, now trying to shove a protesting Subject Nine into the Lab-In-A-Box. 'Why does something always happen and I never get to go? I could use a drink.'

'_A party!_'

'You're going to blow if you don't calm down!' Greely repeated insistently, with a bit more force in her voice this time.

Hobart paused, and looked at her for a long moment. Then he said, 'Where's Subject Nine?'

Greely tossed the box at him. 'Don't you think it was a little bit convenient?' she said, directing this statement at both him and Marcei. 'The dragon flying over _right_ as the _winning field_ _goal_ for the footbomb _finals_ was kicked into Mount Kajaro?'

'So?' Hobart said. Immediately he moved onto matters that he thought were more important. 'See if you can find that Wolpertinger we lost a few months back. I've never seen one of its like so attracted to gunpowder before – maybe it will be worth some moolah in Azshara – moolah, Greely, _moolah!_'

'I don't have _time_ to get drunk, doctor!'

Marcei had heard enough. Knowing those two, they could go on like this for hours.

Slinky Sharpshiv, her fighting trainer, was talking quickly to Megs about stuff that could be stolen and resold. Foreman Dampwick was throwing bombs to subdue the now full-on-rebellious trolls down in the mines.

Evol Fingers, the warlock trainer, and Fizz Lighter, the mage trainer, were usually standing atop two crates and attacking each other with their spells. Instead they were blowing things up and lighting them on fire from the stress. Maxx Avalanche, the shaman trainer, looked on and rolled his eyes.

The two merchants, Brett "Coins" McQuid, and Sally "Salvager" Sandscrew, were currently down in the middle of town, selling evacuation supplies at ridiculously high prices, taking advantage of the demand. Bamm Megabomb, the hunter trainer, was continuing life as if nothing had happened, however, the targets he was shooting at were rather damaged and charred, and his eyes a little wild. Sister Goldskimmer had moved the pile of gold she usually perched upon, and was demanding that she could charge her healing services. Warrior-Matic NX-01 was a cardboard cut-out of a goblin attached to a spring stuck to a box. It wobbled back and forth, oblivious to everything around it.

Sassy turned to Marcei, an idea evident on her face. 'All of your assets have been frozen and the First Bank of Kezan is out of business, but you need an awful lot of moolah, boss. I think you're going to have to go break your own money out of the bank. The different widgets in your Goblin All-In-1-Der belt should be enough to crack the vault.'

Marcei nodded.

'Take Ace with you,' Sassy added. 'He's probably the best help for this sort of thing.'

Marcei looked up at the top floor window, where Ace and Izzy were chucking out anything of value. Gallywix had long since disappeared.

'Ace!' she yelled. He poked his head out of the window, and nodded when she gestured furiously to come down.

Marcei turned back to Sassy. 'I'll be back.'

Ace ran out of KTC and stopped next to Marcei. 'What is it, toots?'

'We're going to the bank.'

Ace groaned. 'We'll be waiting a long time.'

'I never said anything about waiting . . .'

* * *

The hot rod tore along the roads, flying over dips and bouncing violently on hills. Marcei drove straight into the bank, and down the steps underground. No one was there. She got out of the car, and ran over to the vault, Ace in tow. Marcei pulled her Goblin All-In-1-Der belt from a bag and grabbed the Ear-O-Scope, holding it up to the door's locking mechanism. Using her lock pick, she jiggled the gears up and down, with no success. With a sigh, she pulled out her G-Ray, and tried to use it to automatically unlock the thing. Still no luck. This door was a tough one. She had one last option. She pulled out a small Kaja'mite drill, and bored through the locking system. Ace then stuffed it full of blastcrackers, and lit the fuse. They both ran back a few metres, and the door was blown to bits. Ace grabbed a large, canvas sack, and loaded all of the moolah into it. The end result was a sack bigger than him. Marcei however, was still doubtful.

'I don't think this is a bazillion macaroons,' she said.

Ace shrugged. 'Sassy's bound to have some other ideas.'

Marcei nodded. 'C'mon. We've gotta get this to the car.'

* * *

Apparently while they were gone, the word had spread all over town about Gallywix's yacht. So instead of organizing their own evacuations, almost everyone was running around frantically, trying to find a way to scrape together a bazillion macaroons.

Sassy was delighted to see the sack. She helped unload it, and counted through it all. When she looked up, her face was crestfallen. 'Um, boss... this isn't nearly enough.'

'What!' Ace yelled. 'But that's . . .' He groaned.

Foreman Dampwick came over. 'Ma'am, we need tons of moolah to pay the Trade Prince and get off Kezan, right? Well, tons of it is just waiting for the taking down there in the Kaja'mine!' He pointed where indeed, there were several glowing, green deposits of kaja'mite.

'These are the last known deposits of kaja'mite anywhere. If that's not worth a bazillion macaroons, I don't know what is!'

Marcei grinned. He _was_ smart when he wanted to be.

Dampwick handed her some bombs. 'Take some of my kablooey bombs and blow up the deposits. Then, pick up the chunks.'

Marcei took the bombs and ran down the slope to the mines. Trolls were running rampant and attacking everything in sight. Marcei had to stab the ones that came near her.

She chucked a bomb at the nearest deposit, and it exploded. Quickly looking around just to be safe, she bent down and stuffed the chunks into a burlap sack. She then ran to the next. And so forth.

When she had finished, she had several sacks worth and all of the deposits had been collected.

Chucking them all into the back of the hot rod, she drove them back to Dampwick.

'Nicely done, ma'am, nicely done! That's a fortune you have there in your bags.' Dampwick grinned. 'With all of that, I bet the Trade Prince will let all of us come along on his yacht!'

* * *

Instead of being helpful, Megs was running around like an idiot, having a panic attack.

'We're all going to die!' she shrieked. Marcei slapped her. Megs blinked, and shook her head. 'Sorry about that, Ms Marcei. Okay, we need to find a way to make a lot of moolah quickly.'

She looked over into the main part of town, her brow furrowing. Suddenly, her face lit up, and she looked at Marcei, evidently having an idea.

'There are already reports of the Trade Prince sending hired looters into the streets. You could take the hot rod out there and run them down, snatching the loot that they've illegally stolen. There wouldn't be anything wrong with that, right?'

Marcei nodded. 'So I just run over them?'

'I think so. Try not to flatten the loot, though.'

Marcei looked into town. There was some sort of commotion going on. She hollered for Ace again, and got back into the hot rod.

Ace came from over at the pool, wheeling a motorbike alongside him. Marcei raised an eyebrow.

'I didn't know you had that.'

'I didn't,' Ace replied. 'One of the pirates was riding it around in circles, but got pulled off. This drove straight into the water.'

'Alright. Let's go run over some pirates.'

* * *

The pirates were all over town and, quite frankly, weren't expecting two psychopaths in vehicles to come around driving on top of them.

Marcei spotted a group of them on Swindle Street.

'There!' she yelled to Ace, pointing. He said something in response that she couldn't hear. She accelerated, and ploughed straight into the pirates. The sound of crunching bones was rather satisfying. She skidded off the top of them and stamped on the brakes, jumping out of the car. Ace was already there, and going through the moolah.

'How much?' Marcei asked.

Ace looked up, eyes wide. 'This lot had the jackpot. Two-hundred stacks!'

Marcei's jaw went slack. '_Two-hundred?'_

Ace nodded, and scooped it all into a bag. 'Megs'll have a fit!'

* * *

Megs grinned when they got back. 'How did you go?'

Marcei dumped the moolah in front of her.

Megs' eyes went wide. 'Wow, you really did it? Well, they had it coming, I guess. That's an awful lot of loot. Do you think it's enough to get you a spot on the Trade Prince's yacht?'

'Maybe,' Marcei said.

'Are you going to be able to bring anyone with you?' Megs asked tentatively. 'I don't make too much in marketing.'

Marcei shrugged, just as Slinky came up behind her. Her red pigtails bobbed anxiously and the curl on her forehead was slick with sweat. Her bronze lips were chewed on, and her copper eyes were tired. Her dark purple, plate armour was sitting at an odd angle, as if she had put it on in a hurry. Nevertheless, she seemed delighted at the prospect of something.

'There's only one way that we're going to get a bazillion macaroons: stealing from the rich!' she said with a grin. 'That slime, the Trade Prince, has stolen all kinds of antiques and expensive art. It's time to take them back and give them to the needy . . . mainly us. Hobart left behind a cap he was working on. It's a disguise that'll make you look like one of Gallywix's mooks. All you have to do is walk right in to his Villa to the west and 'procure' the items.'

Marcei quirked an eyebrow. 'This is new. Mooks?'

'Hobgoblins.'

'Oh. Right. What do I steal?'

'Uh.' Slinky tapped her lip and thought for a bit. 'The Maldy's Falcon - I know that one's in his possession; doesn't waste a second bragging about it -, the Goblin Lisa - which I know about since I stole it _for_ him - and the Ultimate Bomb. That _should_ be enough. Otherwise we're loading his entire house onto that boat.

'Now,' she said, grabbing a strange looking metal dish with a black and white spiralling disk on top. 'This is the hat Hobart left.'

'Wait,' Marcei said, slightly disorientated. 'Hobart and Greely are gone?'

'Yeah. They stuffed themselves into one of the Town-In-A-Boxes before they got loaded onto the yacht.' She crossed her arms and frowned a bit. 'Wish we'd thought of that sooner. Anyway, take this, watch out for the pigs – they'll sniff out your disguise, and come back with those valuables!'

'But – wait – what –' Marcei stuttered as Slinky shoved her into the hot rod.

'Ace!' she barked. Looking thoroughly tired at being called to and fro for demands, Ace came over.

'Man the getaway car,' Slinky said. 'She'll need it.'

Ace gave a sarcastic, two fingered salute, and jumped into the front seat.

'_But how do I tell if it's the right thing?_' Marcei finally got out, as the car started to pull away.

'I trained you well!' Slinky replied. 'You'll know!'

Marcei groaned, and slumped back in the seat, inspecting the hat. It really did look stupid; she had no idea how it would make her look like a "mook."

Ace drove all the way to the other end of town, and up the ramp leading to Gallywix's villa. He stopped a little while away from it, so Marcei could put on the hat without being noticed.

'Good luck, toots,' he said. 'Come out alive.'

Marcei rolled her eyes. 'Who do you take me for? Of course I will.'

Ace gave a quiet chuckle and got back into the hot rod. 'I'll be waiting.'

Marcei nodded, and pulled on the cap. Ace raised his eyebrows at her.

'What does it look like?' she asked tentatively.

'It's uh, built a sort of hologram around you,' he said. 'A solid looking one. Pretty convincing.'

'But do I look like a headcase that works for Gallywix?' she asked seriously.

He nodded.

'Okay, then,' she muttered. 'I'll be back.' She grabbed another burlap sack from the back of the hot rod, and headed up to the villa.

Just before she got to the gates, she head Gallywix yelling loud enough that all of his mooks could hear what he had to say.

'You mooks be on the lookout for any looters. Treat them with extreme prejudice! Make sure that my number one executive doesn't get anywhere near the villa.

'I see great profit possibility on the horizon. All of Bilgewater Port's assets are about to flow to me. We shall sail for distant Azshara. There, I will forge a new trade empire. One that will crush the Steamwheedle Cartel! And I shall carve my likeness upon that distant land's mountains. All will pay tribute to me!'

Marcei rolled her eyes at his incredibly high ego, but looked around warily. Gallywix didn't want her to get into the villa. She had to be careful.

There were two purple mooks standing guard outside of the villa gates. Taking a shaky breath, Marcei slumped her shoulders and shuffled past them, making some undefinable grunting noises. They ignored her.

Marcei looked around the villa. The outside walls were high and made of metal, with a blue top. There was a pool in the middle of the villa, and two small buildings on either end. The big, main building was to her left. The few lucky goblins that had secured themselves a place on the yacht were swimming in the pool and sunbaking on beach chairs.

There were two patrol mooks walking around with a pig attached to a lead. The pigs were large and red-brown, with blue patterns painted onto them. The bristles that made up their manes were black and coarse.

Marcei eyed them warily, and slipped into the first small building when both were a respectable distance away. She turned to find the Ultimate Bomb sitting on a podium. She had never seen anything so beautiful. The bomb was bronze coloured, covered in spikes, and at least three times the size of her head. It perfectly fitted to its title. She carefully picked it up and placed it into her sack. She poked her head outside again, and slipped across the courtyard into the second building. It was decorated similar to the first, but instead of a podium, the Goblin Lisa was hanging on the wall. Marcei gently unhooked it and lowered it into her bag.

The next part was the harder one. She stooped low, and scurried across the courtyard and in through the front door. On the first floor, all that seemed to be there was alcohol. Barrel after barrel of alcohol. Marcei grunted and went upstairs. The bedroom was up there, and to the left of the bed on a shelf, was the Maldy's Falcon. It was a blue stone one, perfectly carved. Marcei just managed to fit in her bag with the rest of the stuff, and headed downstairs.

There was a pig. And several mooks. Marcei let out a shriek she wasn't too proud of, and ran back to where she came from. On the landing there was a balcony. Without thinking twice, Marcei took a running leap, and landed on the roof of the lower floor. She slid down it and ran, not looking back. She could hear the pig squealing behind her.

Once she was outside the gates, she spotted Ace sitting idly in the hot rod.

'Ace!' she hollered. He snapped to attention and turned it on. Marcei leapt into the back of the car, and the car sped off.

Breathing heavily, Marcei pulled off the cap and turned around. The pig was standing at the gates, sniffing the ground. Letting out a sigh of relief, Marcei slumped back into her seat.

'Intense?' Ace asked.

'Yeah.'

'Did you get it all?'

'Yeah.'

'Are you going to give me proper responses at the moment?'

'No.'

'Huh.'

Ace pulled up to Headquarters, and Marcei pulled the sack out of the car, giving it to Slinky.

'Oh wow! These are worth a fortune.' Slinky pulled out the valuables and inspected them with a practised, greed-filled eye. 'I just hope that the Trade Prince doesn't notice them when you hand them over with the rest of your wealth . . .'

Marcei shrugged indifferently. 'He has so much stuff anyway, he probably won't.'

Slinky nodded. 'I'll give these to Sassy. She'll look after them.'

Marcei nodded, and rubbed one side of her face with her hand. She looked up at the sky. It was probably about five o'clock now. The sun wasn't going to go down for at least an hour and a half.

Ace stopped next to her. 'I wonder where we're going when we leave,' he said absently, looking up at Mount Kajaro. The ground trembled slightly.

'Azshara,' Marcei replied. 'It's the place Gallywix keeps talking about.'

He nodded. 'I wonder what it's like.'

'I don't know.'

'Do you know where this Azshara is?'

Marcei looked up at him. 'I don't know that either. I don't really know anything about the world outside of Kezan.'

'Me neither.'

After a pause, Ace said, 'I hope it's better there than it is here.'

Marcei bit her lip. 'Yeah.'


	9. To Survive And Stare Out Windows

**This chapter has been updated from what it previously was, because in all honesty, it was crap. Short and true. But hey, you can't blame me. I had watched a movie in between writing periods, and so I was writing rather overdramatically. Damn, I had to do so much chopping and changing that it was crazy. And a pain in the arse, so to speak. But, I did my best to tone down as much angst as possible. So I fixed it, and hopefully it's a bit less crap. Just don't hate on me for the angst.  
**

**I lost my previous Author's Note when doing this, and I can't remember what I wrote there. So you're going to have to live without it. Not that you needed it.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 9**_

Sassy came out of headquarters, a pained expression on her face, and came to stand next to Marcei.

'We're close, but we still don't have enough macaroons.'

Marcei nodded, noticing a sinking feeling in her stomach.

'But,' Sassy said, 'I've got a plan. We're going to collect on the headquarters insurance policy.'

Marcei felt her eyes widen. But how –

'Hope you don't mind, but I filled the place with the leftover fireworks from your party. All you have to do is go in there and sabotage things. May I suggest the generator, the stove, and the bed? Then come back outside and use the control panel to send in the gasbot.'

Marcei took a shaky breath. This was her _home_ they were talking about. She bit her lip. But it had to be done. They wouldn't survive otherwise. She nodded, and turned towards the building.

The generator was in the front room. She smashed it, and pulled out pipes and cords. When she was finished, it was unrecognisable. The stove Sassy had mentioned was in the cafeteria, and had a tendency to leak. She lit it, and tipped a bottle of kerosene around the foot. Upstairs was her bed. As she stepped into her bedroom, she took one last, sad look around the place. Then, with a defeated sigh, she struck a match and chucked it on top of the blankets. They caught fire instantly.

Marcei made her way back outside and over to where Sassy was standing. The metal control panel was next to her. She turned it on, and walked the gasbot – a little grey device on wheels that leaked streams of gas out of either side – into the first room.

'I can't stand to watch. So many good memories. So much profit,' Sassy whispered. She turned away.

Marcei guided the gasbot into the second room. This was when the sizzling and popping started. She also turned away, waiting for the bang.

After several long moments, it finally came; incredibly loud, and engulfing them in smoke. Marcei coughed, and turned around. The whole building was ablaze, and half blown away. She turned to Sassy.

'When's the insurance guy coming?'

'Well, I timed it pretty well, so he should be here in a few minutes.'

Marcei nodded, and looked over at Ace and Izzy, who were still watching the fire. She silently walked over to them, and stood with them.

About five minutes later the claims adjuster turned up, looking particularly irritated. '_Another _faulty electrical-gas-flammable bed-fireworks accident?' he yelled.

He turned to Marcei. 'This is nothing. You should see Bilgewater Port . . . the whole thing is going up in flames.' He sighed. 'Fine, fine. I don't have time to inspect this place. Here's the moolah from the Bilgewater Cartel's insurance policy. I've got to find a way off the island! Good luck, Marcei!' He left.

Sassy turned to Marcei. 'We've got all the moolah that we need. There's only one thing left to do now, boss: get you to the Trade Prince's yacht. It's about to leave port!'

Marcei almost choked.

'We're gonna have to hurry,' Sassy said. 'Hop in, 'cause I'm driving!'

'Wait!' Marcei said. 'Where's Chip?'

'Just leave him here . . .' Ace muttered. Marcei shot him a scandalized look.

'I'm sure he's down there already, boss,' Sassy said. 'Don't worry about it.'

Marcei thought about it for a moment, and nodded. She, Ace, Izzy and Gobber all climbed into the car's back seat. Everyone else was getting down there through different means.

Sassy drove down to the docks at full speed, screaming at wayward pedestrians to get out of the way. The Trade Prince's yacht was still there. It was wooden, and, well . . . huge. Marcei climbed out of the hot rod, and grabbed some of the moolah. Gallywix was on deck.

'Congratulations, you just made it,' he said. 'I see that you've brought me all that I asked for, including your hot rod.' He flashed an evil grin. 'A bazillion macaroons couldn't have been easy to come by. I'm now the wealthiest, most powerful, goblin on all of Azeroth!'

He continued grinning, letting all of that sink in. 'TOO BAD FOR YOU THAT I'M CHANGING THE TERMS OF OUR DEAL! You're now my slave. Get below deck and take a turn shovelling coal.'

He started laughing manically. Two goblins grabbed Marcei by the arms, and started steering her downstairs. Looking around desperately, Marcei spotted Chip next to Candy Cane.

'Chip!' she cried. He just folded his arms.

'We're through, Marcei! I'm with Candy now.'

Marcei coughed, and staggered. A swooping sensation came out of nowhere and punched her in the stomach. No . . . what? Why? It couldn't . . . not now . . .

She tried to keep her composure, but everything was crumbling inside of her. She wriggled and attempted to kick her captors in the shins without success. In a desperate move, she brought up one's hand and bit it. The goblin yelled, and dropped her. The other one, however, used both of his perfectly intact hands to properly restrain her. When she struggled again, he slapped her. Stunned, she looked up, over at Chip. Her vision tunnelled as Candy giggled, and stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. This time, her insides properly dropped like a stone, weighing her down. She let out a defeated cry, and slumped, allowing herself to get dragged down the steps. Her head was spinning. Her heart was still breaking and hurt so, _so_ badly. She choked back a sob.

The goblins tossed Marcei into a cell with Ace, Izzy, Gobber, Sassy, Megs, Hobart, Greely, and the rest of the KTC crew. She crumpled to the ground, still trying to keep herself together. She closed her eyes with the effort. The betrayal she felt was unbearable. She was vaguely aware the Greely was saying something – or was it Slinky? She wasn't sure.

Someone scooped her up and moved her to sit against a wall. Marcei was too tired to resist. She looked up to see Ace. He didn't say anything; he just held her. Chip never did that, she realised. At least, not like this. He only made physical contact with her when he wanted something. She saw her mistake too late. The weak wall she had started to build crumpled, and she started to lose control again, shaking with the effort to restrain herself. Ace saw what was happening, and made shushing sounds, rubbing the small of her back soothingly and kissing the top of her head. After a moment, she started to relax again.

Night fell, and they both stayed like this, wrapped up in each other's warmth, not saying anything. The others eventually dropped off, but Marcei couldn't sleep. She wriggled restlessly, and kept moving around. Ace didn't say anything, but simply watched her, his eyes reflecting the light coming from the torch by the door. Eventually, she curled up in a ball, looking at the door. She could hear voices upstairs; Chip's in particular. The initial shock of the breakup had worn off, and now she was left with an empty sadness sitting inside her. No, she wasn't proud of the way she had responded to it all, but she wasn't sure she could have done anything about it.

'Are you going to tell me what happened, now?' Ace asked. His voice was soft from not using it. Marcei looked at him, surprised.

'I thought you knew.' Her own voice was slightly thick from crying earlier.

'No. We were brought down here straight away. We don't know what happened up there.'

Marcei nodded. 'Chip . . . broke up with me. I – I really thought he cared. And he was with Gallywix. I mean –' She broke off as she started to choke, but after a moment, did her best to continue. '_Candy_, he – he . . . _Candy_. I can't . . .'

In the torchlight, she saw Ace's face harden.

'What is it?' she asked.

'I would've told you this earlier,' he said, his voice low. 'But I didn't think you'd believe me.'

Marcei watched his features tighten even further.

'He - he never really cared about you,' Ace started. 'When we were yelling at each other earlier; it was about you. Chip was in that relationship for the status and the money. Not you. So I got angry, 'cause he was using you, whereas I actually would've–'

He cut off, suddenly looking like a deer caught in headlights. Marcei gestured with her hands.

'Go on,' she said softly.

'Chip was angry with me for being so close to you,' Ace said. Marcei was pretty sure that wasn't what he was initially talking about, but she let him continue.

'He was worried that you would end up liking me, and dumping him. He'd be out of the money then.'

Ace looked at her with a rueful smile. 'He's had his eye on Candy for ages. She's a Gallywix-Approved one, while you're not.'

'Does that upset you?'

Ace shook his head. 'Nah. I was just trying to get through to someone through her. Not that it worked,' he added as an afterthought.

Marcei nodded, feeling the gears working in her brain. 'Izzy?'

For the first time since they got there, Ace looked genuinely shocked.

'No!' he said, aghast. 'She's a right diva, that one.'

They both looked over at Izzy, who was curled up next to Greely.

'My question, though,' Marcei said turning back to Ace, 'is why did Chip tell you all of this?'

Ace shrugged. 'He knew that you wouldn't believe me if I told you. So he thought it would be a great idea to rub it all in my face.'

'I can't believe him though,' Marcei said shaking her head. 'Has he been working for Gallywix this whole time?'

Ace nodded. 'I think so. I'm pretty sure he had something to do with all o' those pirates crashin' your party.'

'I wouldn't be surprised. He was acting pretty dodgy. It was actually really obvious that something was up.'

Ace nodded, and looked out of the small, bar-covered window. 'It's pretty late. You should sleep.'

Marcei started to object, but Ace covered her lips with his fingers. 'No, seriously,' he said. 'You need it, toots.'

Marcei felt her face grow warm. She pursed her lips and glared reproachfully at him. Ace only gave a tired little smile, and pulled her back in next to him again. Marcei drew her knees into her chest and gave their little prison cell a once-over, before resting her head on Ace's shoulder and closing her eyes.

* * *

Marcei woke up the next morning to a sharp ray of light coming through the small window on the wall opposite, hitting her directly in the eyes. She groaned, and sat up. Ace was sitting cross-legged next to her, picking at a piece of bread. He was so engrossed in this activity, that he didn't notice that she'd woken up. In fact, he didn't notice anything until she said, 'if you don't eat that bread any time soon, I'll steal the lot off you!'

At this, he jumped in surprise, looking up. 'Mornin', toots,' he said with a grin.

'Morning to you too,' Marcei said dryly. She looked around. Hobart and Greely were quietly arguing about something in a corner, Subject Nine sitting on Greely's lap, Sassy, Slinky and Izzy were discussing something else, Sister Goldskimmer was shaking her head, asking herself what she had done to deserve this, and Fizz Lighter was twitching, his fingers occasionally sparking. The rest had apparently been taken out to shovel coal. Marcei got up and walked over to the window, jumping to grab onto the bars. Using her arm strength, she hauled herself up to look out.

Nothing. Nothing but blue water all around. She groaned, and let herself drop.

'Nothing?' Izzy asked, looking up.

'Nothing.'

'Boss?' Sassy said. Then she winced. 'Wait, no, I'm your "former" executive assistant now, aren't I?'

Marcei shrugged. 'We're all slaves now. It really doesn't matter.'

She plopped back on the ground next to Ace and stared at the wall glumly. 'Well, this is boring.'

In the corner of her eye, she saw Ace nod. 'Yeah.'

The next few days passed with the same pattern. Marcei would wake up, eat something, look out the window, shovel coal, and sit, contemplating life. On the fourth day however, just as she jumped down from the window, a loud _BOOM_ rocked the yacht.

'What was that?' Megs shrieked. Another blast made everything bounce again.

Marcei could hear yelling upstairs. Something about escape pods. Another boom. Goblins rolled back and forth, attempting to gain a decent footing. At one point, Marcei ended up wedged between Greely and Evol Fingers, as everyone tumbled into a corner.

Another blast sent a hole straight through the wall of the cell and smashed open the door, leaving a cannonball-like shape.

'_Qui__ck!_' Greely shouted. 'We have to get out!'

Everyone dove through the hole, and out into the open water, which was steadily streaming into the room. Marcei ducked through the hole in the door and ran up along the hall, unlocking all of the cell doors. They flew open and goblins streamed out, desperate to escape. Marcei was caught up in the throng. She turned, and headed back to her cell, intending to escape through the hole in the wall. The cell was now full of water. Marcei dove into it, and desperately hauled herself through the hole. The surface was close, and she was sure she had enough air. But she was getting tired, and her movements were becoming weaker.

Another cannonball came pelting through the air and shot into the water next to her. The impact was enough to send her flying out of the water, and back onto its surface. The impact knocked all of the air out of her lungs, and darkness zoomed in to consume her.


	10. To Live Through The First Night

**Hey! It feels like I am starting all over again. Maybe it's 'cause we're in a different zone now. Hmm. Maybe**. **Anyway, like I mentioned a few chapters ago, I'm playing through all over again, at the same rate that I'm writing, so I have absolutely no idea where some people are at the moment. So, with Hobart and Greely, that was a guesstimate. Yeah. Hmm.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 10**_

_**The Lost Isles**_

She could vaguely hear voices through the darkness.

' . . . what are you doing . . . sitting there . . . recognise . . . Marcei! . . . breathing . . . Kezan . . .'

' . . . sorry, Doc . . . dead! . . .'

' . . . back . . . resuscitate . . . jumper cables . . . clear! . . .'

Marcei felt a painful jolt shock though her body.

The voices started to become clearer.

' . . . I've got . . . up to her now . . . Marcei? . . . snap out of it! Don't go into the Light!'

Marcei coughed, and forced open her eyes. The light was initially blinding, and she squinted a bit as she raised her head in an attempt to take in her surroundings. She was lying on a piece of driftwood, just off the shore of an island. With effort, she sat up. Doc Zapnozzle and Geargrinder Gizmo were with her. Doc was holding some dripping jumper cables.

Doc grinned. His sallow skin was burned from the midday sun. 'You made the right choice. We all owe you a great deal, Marcei. Try not to get yourself killed out here.'

She winced, and rubbed her eyes. A mistake, considering they were wet with salt water.

'Well,' Doc said, standing up and dusting off his hands, 'there are more survivors to tend to. I'll see you on the shore.'

Marcei nodded, and looked over to where he was gesturing. The island was fairly big, and covered in rainforest. In the distance, she could see a giant mountain looming over everything. Gizmo shuffled next to her. She looked at him. His red shirt and jacket were torn and shredded.

'Marcei, I'm sorry. I thought you were dead!' he said. Marcei shrugged indifferently.

'This is just crazy,' he continued. 'We sailed into a fight between the Alliance and Horde!'

She blinked. 'We did?'

'Yeah. I dunno why they fired at us, though.' He looked around, and there was an awkward pause.

'You know, our brothers and sisters still need to be rescued,' he said, pointing at the water. Indeed, there were floating escape pods bobbing everywhere.

'I'm going to get the guys out there -' He pointed further out into the water. 'And if you could help everyone closer to the shore – if you're up to it, of course – that would be great. Let Sassy know that I'll swim in shortly.'

Marcei's eyes widened. 'Sassy's okay?'

He nodded. 'Could hear her on the shore from here. She was hollering somethin' loud, that one.'

Marcei breathed a sigh of relief. Sassy was okay, which meant the others must be too.

'You should go,' Gizmo said. She nodded.

She dove off the driftwood and paddled through the water. She hadn't had too much experience in water, but she had a general idea about what she was doing. She kicked over to the nearest pod, and tried to jimmy the door open without success. With a groan, she looked at the water around her, trying to find something that would help. Her vision focused on a bag bobbing nearby. She paddled over to grab it, and inspect its contents.

Bombs. Little tiny ones smaller than her closed fist. Marcei grinned, and fished one out. Pulling out a lighter she always kept in her boot, she lit the fuse, chucking it at the pod. The locking mechanism on the door blew off. The rest of the pod was too sturdy to be affected.

Marcei swam open and pulled the door open.

Gallywix.

She swore, and tried to slam the door shut. But she wasn't quick enough. Gallywix kept it open and gave her his trademark grin of absolute evil.

'Hello there, Marcei' he said. 'So nice of you to rescue me. No hard feelings, right?'

'No hard – _no hard feelings?_' Marcei spluttered. But he wasn't listening; he dove out of the pod and swam towards the shore.

Marcei groaned. If he had died, this whole marooning thing would be so much better. With a sigh, she looked around for another pod.

An hour later, several shivering goblins had gathered on shore, the majority of them shooting Gallywix looks of the utmost loathing. Marcei could relate. So much for Azshara. That plan had been ruled out, and instead, they were stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere. That was just great.

Some goblins were also slightly disgruntled with Marcei, because of her tactic of blowing open the escape pods, though thankfully, her level of dirty looks were fewer.

Sassy was gathered in the middle of the survivors, attempting to keep order, and reassuring many that Gallywix would be dealt with. The biggest look of relief spread over her tense face when she saw Marcei.

'Oh thank heavens that you survived, Marcei! I thought for sure that you'd drowned!' She ran over and hugged her, slightly teary-eyed. 'Look at all of these folks you saved!' she said, pulling away.

Marcei looked around. A basic camp had been set up near where one half of the yacht had washed up onto the sand. Several crates of salvaged supplies were stacked up in one huge pile, and a campfire had been set up nearby. Marcei chucked her bag of bombs down on the sand next to her, and plopped down by the fire beside Izzy. The red-head looked up tiredly and nearly cried with relief when she saw Marcei.

'Oh hon! You're okay!'

'Yeah,' Marcei mumbled. 'M fine.'

'Ace went for a wander,' Izzy said, looking at her intently. Marcei jumped at his name. She didn't want to see him. She was mortified at how she had reacted about Chip on the yacht, and was even more ashamed that he had to see her that way. She was keeping her distance. No interaction was the best, for now.

An awkward silence passed, and Izzy raised her eyebrows. 'Are you . . . going to go and find him?'

'No,' Marcei snapped, before widening her eyes at her own reaction. Izzy didn't know what was going on in her head. It wasn't her fault.

'Um, no,' she said again, leaning back slightly and rubbing her eyes, taking in the warmth coming from the fire. 'Sorry, Iz.'

Izzy shrugged indifferently. 'Just thought you'd like to consider it.'

'Huh.' Marcei looked around. For some _odd_ reason, there was a beach chair and umbrella set up next to them. She pointed. 'How the _hell _did that survive?'

'Candy made Chip go and salvage it for her.' Then, realising her mistake, Izzy went pale and whispered, '_O__ops_.'

Marcei winced and rested her head in her hands, but didn't say anything. Her head was full of conflicted emotions. Part of her had been hoping that Chip hadn't survived the explosion, but another part was horrified she was thinking of such a thing. The rest of her was screaming to go and die in a hole. That was rather appealing actually, but she wasn't the suicidal type. If something was bothering her, she'd normally go kill _someone else_, not herself.

All of this thinking was making her head hurt. She wasn't a philosopher. She was a mechanic, if anything at all. With a groan, she rotated herself so she was properly facing Izzy. 'Did the others survive? The rest of the KTC group?'

Izzy nodded, vacantly staring into the fire. 'I'm pretty sure. I haven't actually _seen_ Greely and Grapplehammer, but I'm assuming they're in the group that went with Dampwick in search of a mine. Ace reckons he saw them.'

Marcei raised her eyebrows. 'A mine? Already?'

Izzy shrugged, pulling a _what-the-hell-don't-ask-me_ face. 'I wouldn't know why. I'd be more concerned about getting some sort of settlement established, but I'm not the one in charge around here.'

'Who is?'

'Gallywix. He entitled himself our leader. And watch out,' she said, lowering her voice and casting a wary eye around. 'He really hates you. He's blaming this whole goddamn marooning on you. And he's trying to turn everyone against ya while he's at it. So good luck with that, 'cause I think it might work.'

Marcei groaned and rested her forehead on her fingers. 'The bastard.'

Izzy winced and nodded. 'He's a bloody manipulative bugger. However,' she said, brightening up slightly, 'everyone hates him at the moment, because of his crappy choice of ship navigators. They steered the yacht straight into the middle of a bunch of Alliance ships attacking a Horde one.'

Marcei perked up slightly. 'Gizmo said that happened, but I didn't really get any details. How did you find out?'

Izzy pursed her lips and pulled a peculiar face. 'One of those rich socialites that Gallywix didn't hate was shrieking on about it. You couldn't be any louder. Got the whole story.'

Marcei nodded, looking at her feet in front of her.

'Afternoon, ladies.'

Marcei froze, her heart pounding in her chest and her ears going hot. Izzy looked up at Ace as he parked himself on the sand next to them. 'Since when did _you_ get so formal?' she asked indignantly, quirking an eyebrow. Ace shrugged a little, ruffling his hair with his hand and sending sand flying.

'Beats me.' His gaze travelled over Izzy's head, and he grinned at Marcei.

That was the trigger. Something heavy dropped in her stomach just like that, and she didn't know why. Because absolutely gorgeous-looking grins _never_ unnerved her.

She leapt up like a started rabbit and muttered out some cover story that even _she _didn't understand, before turning and bolting. Izzy yelled something after her, but she wasn't listening.

Megs and Slinky were with some of the survivors that were setting up shelters. Because they were far away enough from the campfire, she helped Slinky support a thick branch while Megs tied it in place with some rope.

When this was done, Slinky properly turned and acknowledged her. 'Hey, Marce.'

Marcei nodded just as a yawn escaped her lips. The sun was just setting, and the majority of the goblins were returning from their search for food, bringing whatever they had retrieved.

Megs came to a stop next to them, inspecting their shelter with a critical eye. Marcei winced slightly at it. It was two uneven branches supporting a large plank of driftwood sitting at a diagonal angle.

'It's rubbish, but it'll do,' Megs grumbled.

Slinky shrugged. 'I don't give a damn as long as I don't get wet, and nothing eats me.' She gestured absently into the jungle. A roar shook through the trees, making her jump.

'It keeps out the wind,' Marcei offered unhelpfully.

Megs grunted. 'If you say so.'

Slinky grabbed the pair of them by the arms and started tugging them to the campfire. 'C'mon, I'm hungry. You can contemplate our crappy shelter some other time.'

Megs shot her an incredulous look over Slinky's shoulder. Marcei shrugged in response.

Slinky finally let them go when she had deemed them close enough to the food source. Those that had gone searching had done extremely well, considering the circumstances. There was a large stack of fried fish, some big, pink spotted eggs, and an assortment of nuts and fruit. A few unfortunate crabs that had been found on the beach had also been chucked onto the fire to roast. Marcei plopped down on the sand and accepted a fish from Sister Goldskimmer. She looked around at the survivors. There had to be roughly fifty or sixty. Those who had died had been buried in a makeshift graveyard next to the yacht.

Gallywix and his followers all sat together up one end. Gallywix was sitting up on a rock, to give himself height above everyone else. He was boasting about something, but Marcei didn't really care. She'd tolerated his rubbish for long enough back on Kezan. Here, she could go her own way.

She picked a chunk off her fish and popped it in her mouth.

Dinner, thankfully, wasn't too much of a subdued affair. Most goblins attempted to keep their spirits up by talking, and at one point, someone started up a game of flinging coconuts at some of the wild birds attempting to scrounge their food.

After about an hour, Gallywix stood up, like he was going to make a speech. The hubbub subsided, and he cleared his throat.

'Now, I know what situation we are in,' he started. 'But we do not need to worry. This is just a short stop on the way to Azshara. Once repairs have been made, we will be on our way again. But,' he said, raising his voice, 'I think we all know who's really responsible for the mess we're in! Don't worry, I'll see to it that Marcei get what she deserves!'

_What the . . ._

Marcei gave him her most deadly glare, and tried to stand up. Slinky grabbed her by the arm.

'Don't,' she hissed. 'He's trying to get a rise out of you. Then everything will be ten times worse. You know how destructive you are!'

Marcei shot Gallywix another heavy glare, but stayed seated.

'You thought to take my place on Kezan, Marcei?' Gallywix asked. 'You reach too far! I made you what you were . . . "were" being the operative word. You're nothing now! Nothing!'

Marcei snarled, and ignored Slinky's warnings. 'You coward,' she hissed, standing up. 'You actually knew that I had a chance of taking over from you! So this is your way of trying to fix it all. You won't keep that power forever. There's no point to it now; we're all probably gonna die out here anyway!'

There was a collective gasp at that statement. Marcei refrained herself from rolling her eyes. She couldn't believe that they were all thick enough to not be able to see that.

'That may be so,' Gallywix replied silkily, 'but until that very point, I am still in charge here. I've got my eye on you, Marcei. Let's just say that only one of us _will_ be leaving this island, and that goblin's name begins with Trade Prince!'

'But what are you the Trade Prince of?' Marcei snapped. 'The _coconuts?_ Whatever happens to live in that jungle? Face it bucko, there's _nothing here_. There's no damn point!'

'I don't care, because I am still in charge!' he shouted in response.

'This isn't Kezan! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Kezan isn't there anymore!'

There was another gasp at this. Damn it, they were so _stupid_.

'It doesn't matter where we are,' Gallywix snarled, 'because you are all my slaves and I own you! Face _that_, you idiot girl. It's the inevitable. _I. Own. You._'

'Well, I'd happily go and toss myself off that cliff over there, but that means I'm leaving everyone with you. And I'm not gonna do that, 'cause for all I know, you're just gonna brainwash the lot of them and use them as means to get outta here!' And with that, she turned on her heel, and stalked off in the general direction of the shelters.

'You will regret the day you even considered crossing me, Marcei!' Gallywix yelled.

'Whatever,' she muttered, shoving her hands in her pockets.

* * *

**Here comes the sass. Heh heh. To cheer everyone up, there's potential Gallywix bashing in the future. Yay!  
**


	11. To Blow Up Monkeys - Inventively

**Hey!**

**New chapter - finally. It feels like I took forever to write this, and it bugs me so much. Oh well. It's here, no? **

**A review would be nice . . .**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 11**_

Marcei ended up spending the night in Slinky and Megs' shelter. She woke up the next morning to find a salvaged blanket thrown over her and Megs curled up beside her, still asleep. Slinky had obviously already left.

With a slight groan, she sat up and stretched her arms, yawning. She dumped her blanket on top of Megs and got up, wincing when she stepped out into the sunlight. She looked over at the now-extinct campfire. No one was there. Instead, most people were helping to set up a sort of settlement. Or just sitting around looking lost. One or the other, really.

_Huh_, she thought. She walked around one side of the yacht, bringing some life into her tired legs. As she rounded to the back of the vessel, she ran into the most unwelcome face that she could think of.

Chip practically blanched when he almost ploughed into her, instantly looking around to see if anyone could see him with her. Marcei glared at him and folded her arms, silently daring him to run off. Chip bit his lip and looked at her urgently.

'Listen, Marcei,' he said. 'I can't exactly be seen talking with you.'

Marcei rolled her eyes. Well, duh. She had gathered that herself, thanks.

'You're not exactly at the top of the Trade Prince's list these days and I need to think about my future. You understand, right, babe?'

'Oh, of course,' she said stiffly. 'I can't be ruining your future now, can I? I mean, it's not as if you ruined mine or anything. Certainly not.'

Chip caught her obvious sarcasm and closed his eyes, as if he had been expecting her to be a pain like this.

'Look, I'm with Candy now.'

'Oh yes, let's talk about _Candy_,' Marcei said, her voice getting higher. 'Let's talk about how she is so much better than me and worth your_ actual_ affection. Let's talk about how much of a blonde-headed idiot she is, and exactly _why_ she's in the Trade Prince's good books, shall we?'

Chip looked immensely uncomfortable and opened his mouth to say something, but Marcei interrupted him.

'Actually, no, I _don't_ want to talk. Live it all up while you can, boyfriend number twenty seven, and _have a great life_.' Marcei hissed the last part and spun on her heel, stalking off in search of Sassy.

* * *

Marcei found Sassy beside the crates of tools and supplies. Except there _were_ no tools and supplies. Sassy was staring dumbly at the empty space, looking on the verge of a breakdown. Marcei swore softly and walked over to her, wanting an explanation.

'What -?'

'Our bombs and tools!' Sassy cried, looking distraught. 'Those – those monkeys! Stole them! _In the dead of the night!'_

Marcei raised an eyebrow. Monkeys? That was new.

'Can you go out there and get them back for us? I know you would set them right. Without those tools, we have absolutely no way to get off this island!' Sassy was starting to get slightly hysterical now, and Marcei knew she had to calm her down before things got really bad.

'Alright, seriously, Sassy – _calm down – _I'll go and find everything. Just, chill, 'cause you look like a madwoman. _Chill_.'

Sassy finally got a grip on herself and nodded, calming down. 'Okay.'

'Good,' Marcei said, relieved. She turned and looked over at the jungle behind her. Now that she knew what was in there, she could pinpoint the tell-tale screeching of the animal.

A yell came from nearby. 'Ugh, those bloody _monkeys_!'

Sassy and Marcei shared an exasperated glance, and without another word, the latter shot off towards the source of the yelling. Bamm Megabomb was looking into a small, charred crater in the sand with an angry expression on his face. Marcei stopped, surprised.

'What on . . . ?'

'Those monkeys!' Bamm said. 'They've stolen all of our explosives, and now they're going around throwing them. Sometimes at us!'

As if to reinforce his point, a small bomb flew right past Marcei's head, almost hitting her. She squawked and jumped out of the way as it exploded.

'See?' Bamm cried.

Marcei folded her arms. 'What do you want _me_ to do about it?' she questioned bluntly, raising an impertinent eyebrow.

Bamm chucked a bunch of bananas at her. Marcei groaned. 'Bananas? Seriously? You're nuts!'

He shot her a look that said "shut up and let me finish." Grudgingly, she obliged.

'I had Fizz Lighter take some of his nitro and put it in these bananas. All you have to do is go out there and feed them.'

Marcei couldn't help but feel impressed. Nitro-Potassium bananas. It was an ingenious idea, even if she wasn't going to say so. She looked over the bananas with a bit of a satisfied smile. They looked just like normal ones. She looked back at Bamm and deliberately forced the smile off her face, waving around the bananas so he made a protective move and snatched them back off her.

'Why can't you do it?' she asked indignantly.

'Because I value my life -'

'Bamm!'

They both turned to see Maxx Avalanche coming over to them.

'She goin' into the jungle?' he asked, jabbing a thumb at Marcei. She bristled at him referring to her as "she." Though to be honest, she knew Maxx really didn't care.

Bamm nodded. 'Yeah. Why?'

Maxx turned to Marcei. 'What are you doing in there?'

'Uh, so far?' Marcei asked. 'Retrieving stolen supplies and blowing up monkeys.'

He grunted. 'Looks like those monkeys will steal _anything._ Those thieving little monsters have driven the teraptor matriarch into a frenzy by stealing her eggs.'

Marcei blanched.

'Worse yet,' he continued, 'the eggs have started to hatch! We've got hungry teraptor hatchlings running around all over the place, looking to make a quick meal out of us.'

'Hell no. Really?'

Maxx nodded gravely. 'We didn't start this, but it's our problem now. You'll have to head into the jungle and kill those hungry teraptor hatchlings before they kill us all.'

Marcei winced. 'Why is this all being piled on me?' she groaned. Both Maxx and Bamm shrugged respectively.

'Because you can fight.'

'Because you're the only smart one with common sense 'round here.'

She ignored both comments and looked towards the jungle with a sigh. No one else was going to do it. She might as well. She had a small, miniature-ish, goblin-style shotgun strapped to the inside of her shorts. It would do. She pulled it out and started over towards the trees.

* * *

Marcei stepped into the jungle, constantly on the lookout. She didn't feel like getting bombed by some idiot monkey, and she _certainly_ didn't feel like being snapped up by some baby teraptor that was probably bigger than her. She grumbled. Everyone _had_ to dump their common, household chores on her, didn't they? She really didn't appreciate it. Sure, she wasn't an upper class citizen anymore, but still. She had better things to do. Like figure out ways to kill off Gallywix and make it look like an accident. Oh man, the fun she could have . . .

A rustling came from some bushes up ahead of her. Without even stopping to think, she dove into the safety of a leafy plant, her gun clutched tightly in her hands.

A large purple dinosaur-like beast at least twice her height with a yellow underside leapt out, landing on its two hind legs. It snarled and looked around with its golden eyes, sniffing. A raptor. A teraptor, to be specific.

_Hell,_ Marcei thought. _Is this just one of the midget ones?!_

She didn't really stop to contemplate it. She wordlessly raised her shotgun and took an aim.

_Bang!_ The beast crumpled with a shrieking wail and thrashed about wildly on the ground. Marcei gingerly stepped out of her hiding spot. The teraptor glared at her through its moaning. Marcei winced, and raised her shotgun again. Best to put it out of its misery.

_Bang!_ A headshot. Nothing could survive that. And this raptor was no exception. Its head hit the ground without another sound.

Marcei looked around. Nothing. Bushes, trees, a monkey, a spot of yellow . . . wait, what?

She frowned and leaned her head forward, focusing on the yellow. It was almost . . . _crate shaped_!

She gave a delighted yell and ran forward, shifting aside some leaves so she could grab the crate. She prised the top open, grinning like a maniac. There was plenty of stuff here. Wrenches, drills, jackhammers . . . the lot.

_Sssssssssss . . ._

Marcei swore and jumped away from the crate just as a bomb exploded near her. She looked around wildly.

_Ah. There's the little bugger._ Up in a tree just above her head, sat a grey monkey cradling a handful of bombs. Marcei pulled a banana off her bunch.

'Here, monkey!' she called, tossing the banana up to it. The animal grunted and dropped the bombs, catching the banana.

'Hey! Careful with those!' she yelled, reaching out to grab each bomb as it fell. Glaring, she stuffed them into the crate and looked back up at the monkey. It peeled the banana and stuffed it into its mouth whole. Gross.

The monkey grunted in surprise as something started to hiss. She grinned internally, because, hey, that feeling inside your gut couldn't be good.

It all then happened in an instant. The monkey squawked and launched into the air, landing back on the ground with a horrible crunching noise. Marcei hooted in delight. _Flying monkeys!_ What next?

She looked around with a feeling of euphoria. She had this in the bag. Now she needed more prey.

* * *

Two hours later, Marcei had all of the crates roped together and was tugging them out of the jungle.

'Maxx? Sassy?' she yelled, grunting from the effort of pulling. '_Bamm? _Can someone just help me with these bloody crates?!'

Sassy surfaced from around one side of the yacht and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw what Marcei had gathered. She ran over and started pushing from behind.

'I thought we were doomed for sure. But now we can start working on a way to get off this island.'

'You actually think we're gonna live through this?' Marcei asked bluntly.

'Best to keep a positive attitude, boss – er, Marcei.'

Marcei grunted, not really caring about it. _Bloody hell, these crates were heavy!_

'How much did you get done in there?'

Marcei paused for a moment, allowing her brain to think. 'I killed about six of those raptor hatchlings for Maxx, and blew up ten or so of those bomb throwing monkeys.'

Sassy's voice went higher from surprise. '_Bomb throwing monkeys? _The nerve!'

'You weren't the one they were chucking them at,' Marcei grumbled. She bowed her head down and started pulling again.

'Marcei!' The voice came from ahead of her, and was distinctly male.

'_What?_' she barked.

Bamm's feet appeared on the ground where she was looking. 'What happened with the monkeys?'

'They went up into the air and died upon ground impact,' Marcei muttered, still struggling with the crates, despite Sassy's assistance.

'_They went up into the air?_' Bamm was struggling to get the sentence out properly from laughing. 'That's hilarious! I think I'm going to have to take a bunch out there and feed them myself!'

'You do that,' Marcei grumbled. '_Now would you help me with these crates?_'

'Well, since you asked so nicely . . .'

'_Thank you!'_


	12. To Kill Crazy Pygmy Witchdoctors

**After this, I'm actually getting to the better parts of the story. That's good. I think. Well, anyway, just hang on, and _please_ review. I would really like one. Just no hate, please.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 12**_

Sassy was positively revelling in the fact that the tools were back. Now she wouldn't stop jabbering on about all the jobs that could be completed and whatnot, and it all became so irritating that Marcei was incredibly tempted to stuff her fingers in her ears and call it a day. But she held out. Barely. Eventually though - thankfully - Sassy finally stopped and went back to business that actually mattered. Marcei had been absently sitting on top of the crates, not really listening to anything at all by this point, and keeping an eye out for, ahem, _people_.

A rather hassled looking goblin jogged over to Sassy and muttered something to her. She nodded, and muttered a few things back. This muttering went on for a few minutes, and by that time Marcei hadn't been able to repress an eyebrow that insisted on making its way up her forehead. After a few minutes, the goblin went away, and Marcei swivelled her position on top of the crates, so that she was lying on her front, her head propped up in her hands. She gave Sassy an inquiring look. 'Well?'

Sassy gave a bit of a grin, and looked up at her. 'Great news! Foreman Dampwick has uncovered a cave full of kaja'mite on the island! What are the odds?'

Marcei promptly choked. '_What?_ But, Kezan was the _only_ place that had kaja'mite!'

'The only _known_ place,' Sassy corrected. 'Of course, there's a downside. He took some of the survivors with him to help mine the ore, but none of them have made it out.'

Marcei grimaced. 'Well, that's _nice_.'

Sassy shrugged, a bemused expression on her face. 'Crazy as it sounds, the foreman said that there are monkeys in the cave... with mining picks! They're mining the kaja'mite! How is that even possible?'

'It's not.'

Sassy gave her a _fair point_ sort of nod, and continued. 'Can you head over to that cavern? It's uh -' she thought for a moment, and pointed south-east. '- that-a-way. Dampwick _should_ be outside. Don't count on it, though.'

Marcei shrugged indifferently, and got to her feet, flipping off the crates and landing beside Sassy. She looked to her right, roughly where the mine should be. Sure enough, she could see the edge of some rough, bamboo fencing. She gave Sassy a brief nod, and started to jog up the beach.

* * *

After about a minute (the mine was actually pretty close) Marcei spotted Dampwick pacing back and forth outside of the mine entrance, looking stressed.

'Dampwick!'

He turned around and his eyes widened with surprise when he saw her. He grinned.

'Boss! Er, well, I guess you're not the boss anymore, but still, good to see you!'

Marcei skidded to a stop next to him and looked around. A lamp post had been set up behind them to brighten the area when the jungle restricted sunlight and crates had been piled up along the fence.

'Sassy said you were having trouble.'

Dampwick shook his head ruefully. 'Can you believe it? We've got a cave full of intelligent killer monkeys mining kaja'mite!'

'_Mining?_ So, Sassy wasn't joking?'

'Mining. And they're killer!' He sighed. 'It's just horrible. I think they're all dead. How will I get the kaja'mite out of there now?'

'Your miners?'

He shot her a look that said _duh._ She rolled her eyes.

'These monkeys are just not natural and I'm sure it's because of the kaja'mite!' Dampwick grumbled.

'Well, _yeah._ What monkeys naturally mine and harvest the most valuable ore in the world? _No normal one_, that's what.'

Dampwick looked as though he could quite happily whack her over the head. With something heavy.

'None of my miners have come back out. I don't have many left! You can see my predicament, Marcei.' He lowered his voice. 'These guys are nowhere near as good as my old group of jungle trolls.' He got a far-away, dreamy look. 'Ah, those were the days.'

She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes again.

'Maybe you can escort my last miner here through the cavern and keep those monkeys off of him?' Dampwick said. A very frustrated look came over his face. 'We need that kaja'mite!'

'Yeah, yeah,' Marcei said, waving him off impatiently. 'Where's the unlucky bugger?'

'Wait! One more thing.' Dampwick jabbed a thumb towards the cave. 'Apparently there are strange cave paintings and other artefacts all over the cavern. Do you think you could use your belt-mounted KTC Snapflash camera to capture images at the designated spots? Keep your eye out for anything interesting. The more information we have, the better.'

'My _what_, now?'

Dampwick rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. He tapped a funny little device on Marcei's belt that she had never really used before. She hadn't bothered to figure out what is was, and never had a cause to use it. She unhooked it.

'This is a _camera? _And it was _waterproof?_'

'Obviously. Anyway, I'm sure that Sassy will want the intel.'

'Yeah, fine, whatever. Got it. Where's the miner?'

* * *

Marcei followed the miner into the cave entrance, helping him push an empty cart for the ore. The goblin grumbled to himself, muttering a few choice words about Dampwick and where he could stick his kaja'mite. Marcei looked around. Crude bone fences lined some of the walls, and torches sat in brackets every twenty metres or so. The majority of the ore deposits nearby had already been mined and, unfortunately enough, she could tell why the other miners hadn't made it out alive. In her direct line of sight, she could already see three dead bodies.

The goblin paled slightly and looked around, before turning to Marcei. 'Okay, here we go. You're gonna cover me, right?'

Marcei nodded and slid her knife out of her belt. He grabbed his pickaxe out of the cart and carried it over to the nearest deposit, right underneath some sort of painting. 'Ack, do I hear monkeys?'

'What?'

'Over here.'

Marcei walked over to him. The closer she got, she could hear a faint sound. 'Monkeys.'

The miner shrugged and started hacking at the kaja'mite. Marcei angled the camera and took a snapshot of the painting just above it. She couldn't quite make sense of it, but . . . was that a turtle?

The miner grunted in irritation. 'I can't get anything else out of this one. The monkeys got the most of it.'

Marcei nodded, and started shoving at the cart. It started rolling on its own down the slight slope and skidded around a corner.

'Hey!' the miner shouted, running after it. 'Get back here!' He disappeared around the corner, and Marcei heard him swear loudly. She ran after him.

Two grey monkeys were swinging at the miner with their pickaxes, baring their teeth and snarling. He swung his own axe and planted it straight into one's stomach, ripping out its insides. It dropped dead. Marcei adjusted her grip on her knife and ran down to them, yelling loudly. The other monkey turned to her and howled. She lashed out at it and made a long gash down its arm. The monkey snarled and made to hit her on the head. She dodged and slashed at its other arm, so instead she was hit with the flat side of the pickaxe.

She groaned. Her head was pulsing and colours were swimming in and out of focus. Damn it. She was going to have a concussion after . She honestly didn't know how to tell a concussion from a migraine, so . . .

She reached over and ploughed her knife straight into the monkey's chest. It howled and fell to the ground, twitching. Marcei groaned again and slumped down against the cave wall. The miner cocked his head to the side, studying her for a minute, before shrugging and turning around to mine an ore deposit. After a moment, he spoke.

'Did I ever tell you that I was a mid-level accountant with the company back on Kezan? I worked for you for years. Do you even know my name?'

Marcei winced and raised a hand defensively. 'Look, dude, I don't really care at the moment, because I think I just lost a good deal of brain cells. I'll figure your name out later, okay?'

The miner grunted indifferently and continued hacking at the kaja'mite. A sharp wave of pain pulsed through her head and she held back another moan. Bloody hell. And there were probably more monkeys. _Fun_.

'You know, there's a painting here,' the miner stated bluntly. Marcei raised her head and saw on the wall opposite some fuzzy black and red drawings. Well, they probably weren't actually fuzzy, but that was the best she could see. She grunted and pulled out her camera, taking a rough picture of them. The miner grumbled. 'What I wouldn't give for some explosives right now.'

Marcei stood up, her head clearing slightly. 'I'm gonna scout ahead. See what I can find.'

The miner nodded and continued hacking at the ore. She pushed off the wall and stumbled further down the cave. She saw a few more monkeys, but not even wanting to bother this time she pulled out her shotgun and killed them all from a distance. _So_ much easier.

She rounded another corner and could hear some grunting. But it didn't sound like the monkeys. As she got closer to the noise, it became more definable as chanting of sorts, but not in any language she knew. She pressed herself against the cave wall and moved slowly along it, and popped her head around another corner.

There was a big stone altar with a flat surface. A giant rib cage hung over it like a canopy and everything - the altar, the floor around it – was stained with blood. A dead body was lying on the rock.

Marcei started forward, but then she heard the chanting start up again and she leapt backwards. She poked her head around the corner again.

There was a stumpy, tanned figure facing the body on the altar shouting incantations and waving its arms. Black and purple sparks shot from its fingers.

'Eht oosta Volcanoth!'

What, now?

The dead body was engulfed in purple flames and started to pulsate. Marcei didn't want to see the result of this. She pulled out her shotgun and shot the creature through the head. It dropped without another word. Marcei gingerly stepped out from behind the wall and made her way over to the figure. Huh. A pygmy. She prodded it with her foot. It didn't move. She took a better look at it. It was dressed in crude clothing made from some sort of scaly hide, and various bones and skulls dangled from its belt. She was pretty sure he was a witchdoctor.

She turned over to the body on the altar. It was an orc. The fire had dissipated leaving him remarkably undamaged. A waterlogged journal was clamped in its fist. She prised it out and flipped it open.

Her first question was, "_orcs can write?"_ The story however, was rather interesting. The orcish was smudged and barely legible, but she managed to discern the important information.

Apparently, like the Trade Prince's yacht, the orcs were fired upon by Alliance warships. She _did_ hear several stories about how the yacht did pass before an orc ship right before the Alliance opened fire. Maybe they were firing at the orcs instead of the yacht?

She crossed her arms and grumbled. Stupid orcs! They got her sunk!

A yell came from another end of the cavern. 'I've got enough kaja'mite for now. I'll make my way out on my own. Thanks for the escort, Marcei!'

'Yeah, that's fine!' she bellowed back. She looked back at the journal. Sassy would want to see this.

She had another look around, before remembering that she had to take a picture of the altar too. She turned around to leave, and made her way back down the tunnel. At the corner, she looked up. She wasn't entirely sure how someone had managed to put a painting on the _ceiling_. Nevertheless, she took a photo of it.

* * *

Back outside the cave, Dampwick was both surprised and relieved that Marcei and the miner made it out alive.

'We've hit the mother lode!' he cheered. 'Now, what's all this about a pygmy witchdoctor in charge of the monkeys? Is he dead? Because if he's dead, then legally I can stake my claim . . . not that I wasn't going to do that anyway. By goblin law, all kaja'mite belongs to us!'

'Yeah, I _know_ that. He's dead.'

Dampwick grinned and climed on top of the kaja'mite cart, clearing his throat. 'On behalf of the Bilgewater Cartel, I lay claim to this mine!'

'That's nice.'

Dampwick rolled his eyes. 'Go back to Sassy. Stop harassing me.'

Marcei rolled her eyes in return. 'Whatever.'

Sassy was back at the yacht, sitting on the partially demolished deck, staring glumly into space. Marcei plopped down next to her. She looked up.

'Marcei, you look like you've been spelunking.'

'Yeah. Check these out.' She passed Sassy the camera.

'What are these?'

Marcei recounted her story as Sassy looked through the photos.

'Clearly that pygmy witchdoctor is from some new race never seen before. They must be the ones that painted all of that stuff in the cavern. I'm not sure that I like what you're describing.'

'What do you think?'

'It sounds to me like they're paintings of them and us on an island with an exploding volcano.'

'_What?_ _Another_ volcano?'

Sassy grimaced. 'Just our luck.'

'And this too.' Marcei passed over the journal. 'There are orcs around here somewhere.'

Sassy flipped through the book, her eyes skimming swiftly over the pages. '_Orcs?_ They were sunk and stranded too? And now the Alliance are on the island?' She looked up. 'Do you think they're going to kill us?'

Marcei shrugged.

Sassy chewed her lip, looking thoughtful. 'I think it's time for a little sitdown with these orcs.'


	13. To Demolish Oversized Carnivorous Plants

**I'm back. And the orcs are here too. So there's a bonus if you like orcs, I suppose.  
Reviews are a great idea, by the way.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 13**_

Quite a while ago now, Marcei had decided that if she was gonna die young, she'd go down in style. In all honesty, she never thought she would be sending herself to her own death. No explosions. No dynamite. _Nothing_ with gunpowder. It couldn't be more horrible.

Once, she actually had the audacity to envision a few ideal deaths. Now, don't get her wrong, this was back about a year ago, when she was still sitting around the bottom of Kezan's hierarchy and before Gallywix had given her that fabulous promotion from which everything spiralled downwards.

She'd been caught in life-or-death situations several times before, which was probably a main factor that aided in making her zealous and overdramatic mind even consider dying. _She was hardly twenty!_ No way was she going to go because of natural causes. Despite her lack of confidence in this island's stability. And that she was walking to her not-in-the-least-flattering destruction right now. Hell, she was confused. And the potential concussion wasn't helping that. _Owww_.

She had been following a rough trail up past Dampwick's mine up towards the edge of the island, kicking at rocks and considering her options. With her luck, she was gonna be killed on sight. Not good. _But_, if her mildly pretty looks and her uncanny ability to charm and appeal to one's better nature worked, (Ace taught her. You could only learn from the best.) maybe she'd get through and be able to speak to the leader. Sassy didn't have much faith in her though, and that brought her hopes down quite a bit. If Sassy didn't believe she'd come out alive, she probably wouldn't.

She turned to her left and found herself looking up a forty five degree slope. The orc camp _should_ be up here somewhere. She looked down at the journal in her hand, and back up at the rise. She could run now. Get away with her life mostly intact. _Mostly_. That would sort things out real good.

_Though_, she thought dryly, _is there anything actually worth sticking around for?_ She shook her head and laughed bitterly to herself. She was such an idiot. _Of course not_. She squared her shoulders and started striding up the hill-of-sorts. She had a journal to deliver.

* * *

At the top of the slope, the trail made a T shape, giving her the option of turning left or right. She was pretty sure right was the best option. Weren't red banners surrounded by nasty looking wooden spikes enough of a hint that there was probably a camp there? Her view was still partially blocked by land which was most easily described as a U shape. Where she had just come from was one side of the U, the turnoff was the bottom part, and the other side was a high rise where the camp was.

She took a deep breath and steadied her violently shaking hands. Here it goes.

She strode confidently (_argh!_) up to the top of the rise and turned to the right, where two battered looking orcs flanked the entrance. When they saw her, they snarled and drew their weapons; a slightly chipped spear and a mace twice the size of her head. They were definitely capable of skewering her ten times over. _And_ they were at least five times her height. Their huge, green, muscled arms made veins stand out easily. That detail didn't help.

Marcei raised her hands and stepped slowly forward, speaking in Orcish. 'Woah. Chill. I, uh, come in peace. Let me speak to your leader.'

The orc on the left growled. 'Aggra is far too busy to spend her much needed time on the likes of yourself.'

Marcei swept a stray lock of hair behind her metal-studded ear and tried not to snap.

'Look, I need to discuss arrangements of becoming allies. And I need to deliver something. Can you just, let me through? It's really important that I talk to, uh, Aggra.'

The orc scowled and turned to his companion. They quietly muttered to each other and one jabbed an offending finger at Marcei. She bristled. _Hey! _There was _nothing_ wrong with her face, thank you! She crossed her arms, still holding the journal in one hand.

Finally they seemed to come to some decision.

'I'll take you to Aggra,' the one on the right said. Then his tone dropped a notch and mixed with a heavy hint of warning. 'But if there are any funny moves, goblin, your head will be on a spike. Understood?'

Marcei chewed her lip and nodded briskly. 'Cheers.'

He narrowed his eyes but turned without another word, striding into the camp. Marcei hurried to keep up.

The camp was small. There were three shelters in total, set up like gazebos and a campfire was set up in the middle of it all. The eastern side led off to a cliff.

The orc lead her over to the cliff where a slim, brown skinned orc stood, surveying the area beyond. Marcei's escort cleared his throat and the orc turned, a serious expression on her face. She was dressed in neatly cut animal furs and her red hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Her light grey eyes narrowed when she saw Marcei.

'You must have been on that goblin slave ship that was sunk.' Her gaze travelled to Marcei's folded arms. 'What's that you have in your hand?'

Her voice was surprisingly smooth; Marcei had expected something harsher, rougher. She stopped chewing her lip. 'We found one of your scouts dead in a mine. Some crazy witchdoctor was doing its voodoo on it. The scout had this field journal.'

The orc's eyes widened briefly, and she made to grab the journal from Marcei's hand. She stopped herself, exhaling deeply.

'I apologize, it has been a very rough couple of days for all of us.' Her fists gently clenched and unclenched at her sides. 'I am Aggra,' she said, introducing herself. 'All of us here are what remains of the crew of the Draka's Fury.' She gestured around the camp. A small number of orcs were spread around it. She looked back at Marcei, an interested look in her eyes.

'Perhaps we can work together. We have a common enemy in the Alliance. Their SI:7 assassins are all over this island and they're not going to stop until we're all dead.'

A small smile played at Marcei's lips. 'You know, we were actually hoping that. Working together, I mean.'

Aggra smiled back, but a small frown quickly replaced it. 'May I ask a favour of you?'

Marcei spread her arms, stepping her left foot back and bowing slightly. 'Sure.'

Aggra's tight expression loosened sightly. 'Our hunter, Kilag Gorefang, and a few scouts, travelled into the vale down the path to the west. They're . . .' She paused, and Marcei could practically see the gears grinding in her head, trying to decided how to phrase this statement. '. . . searching for . . . "precious cargo" . . . that we were guarding when the filthy Alliance sunk our ship.'

Marcei quirked an eyebrow, interested. What cargo?

A bitter and exasperated smile spread over Aggra's face. 'The way is blocked by deadly plants and they have not been able to break through.'

Marcei grumbled. Deadly plants. That was just _great_. She always wanted to be eaten by carnivorous shrubbery.

Aggra straightened up. 'Marcei, prove your worth as a goblin and a –' She paused, examining the goblin up and down. She looked her in the eye with a bit of an appreciative smile. '- rogue. Journey into the vale to find Kilag.'

* * *

Remember that T shaped intersection? Well, Marcei was glad she didn't go the other way to begin with. "The Vicious Vale," as she had titled it, was down there. Instead of coming up to a high rise, true to its name, it sunk down into a vale full of bright violet and green plants. Marcei looked down at it, and tucked her thumbs in her pockets, breathing a sigh of relief. The orcs hadn't killed her. Even better, they wanted to be allies. No sir, she wasn't going to die this day. Until the plant issue came up. But she could improvise there. _Yeah . . . _that was _so_ going to work.

She studied the predicament before her. The plants were at least four times her height, and were incredibly violent. They lashed out at anything that moved, revealing nasty, foot-long fangs hidden beneath the petals on their heads. Two orcs stood a safe distance away from the plant, each pointing a gun at potential target areas and shooting. A nightsaber was standing protectively in front of one of them, snarling and swiping at any plants that got too close.

_Fun_, Marcei thought grimly. But, the situation wasn't going to deal with itself with her just standing there contemplating it. She actually had to do something.

She skidded down the slope, attempting to shuffle to slow her steps, her feet snagging on branches and rocks. One of the orcs turned at the sound of her footsteps. He was a light, almost aqua green, and his black hair was pulled into a high ponytail. He was dressed in blood splattered chain mail armour, and the nightsaber was growling at his feet. He watched her intently as she approached, and reloaded his gun simply by routine, not even having to look at it.

Marcei made her way over to him, eyeing the dark blue nightsaber cautiously. Before he could speak, she stated her purpose in three words; 'Aggra sent me.'

The suspicion lifted from the orc's face, and he nodded. 'Kilag,' he replied, turning around and firing at another plant. A particularly daring one with bright purple petals lunged forward and snapped at him and the sabre. Kilag smacked it on the head with the butt of his gun and put one foot on it, keeping it on the ground. He flipped his weapon around and shot it through the stem, severing the head. The plant went limp. Kilag refocused his attention on Marcei.

'Goblin, can you fight?'

Marcei nodded, and made to extract her knife from her belt. Kilag fired at a thick vine growing out of the ground about twenty feet away. 'For your sake, I hope so. Otherwise there may be no breaking through this hell of killer plants.' He was shooting again, and barely had time to acknowledge her between rifle shots. For a moment, however, his eye lingered on her belt, and an appreciative glint came to his eye. 'Now is the time for creative solutions. Pull something out of that belt and get to work!'

Marcei looked down at her belt, slightly surprised, and began searching through gadgets. A pouch sat on her right hip, and various knick-knacks were hooked into slots around the whole band. Hell, she had so much_ crap_ on this thing she had no idea why she had it all. Her eyes skimmed over a weed whacker and she looked up, thinking about the situation. Suddenly, an idea came to her that was so crazy that it might work. She pulled out the weed whacker; currently a tiny little box the size of her palm. She pulled out a pin and lifted off the lid, and clicked together an extendable pole with the thickness of a chair leg. At the end of the pole (about two metres away) she opened a small hatch and fanned out flat, connectable parts. She clicked together the interlocking sections to form a blade that was slightly diamond shaped, with incredibly sharp edges.

She hefted up the finished weed whacker, and couldn't help but marvel at the ingenious of it. This'd sort those plants out real good.

A big red button was at the bottom of the pole. Big red buttons were good. They usually meant explosions. Marcei punched it, and something to do with physics (or maybe not. You never know with goblin-made products. Pah! Who needs physics?) started to cause the weed whacker to gain momentum and swing around. Marcei latched onto it with both hands and sprinted down into the vale, flailing around like a lunatic.

'Wo-_oah!_ Gah – _crap!_ Ah-!'

To say the weed whacker sliced through the plants is an understatement. A better term was _minced_. She whizzed around uncontrollably, her feet never on the ground. Severed stems littered the ground all around her.

She tried to keep general control by clearing a path to the other end of the vale, though occasionally she shot off in another direction, making her have to double her efforts in getting back on course.

She was almost at the edge of the vale now. She had an idea. If she timed it right . . .

She focused on a tree in the distance, counting the times it flashed by. _One. Two. . ._

'Three!' Marcei punched the red button again and the weed whacker shot straight in that direction, cutting the rest of the path clear of plants. Marcei landed back on the ground with an _oomph_. Her legs slipped out from under her and she tumbled onto her backside, wincing. The world was spinning. Violently. And the _concussion_. . . Urgh.

Feeling sick, she stumbled to her feet, tripping slightly to the left. Her vision was starting to steady slightly, which was good. She groaned and started to make her way to where she was pretty sure Kilag was.

Kilag was where she had left him, his gun hanging at his side. 'I saw it with my own eyes, and I still do not believe it!' He gave her a look of appreciative admiration. 'You have our thanks and the debt of our lives, little goblin. I hope that soon we can repay you the honour.'

Marcei shrugged it off while trying to steady her churning stomach. 'S alright. The name's Marcei.'

Kilag nodded. 'May I ask a small favor of you while my scouts and I move on?'

She looked back up at the orc. 'Sure.'

'Return to the Horde Base Camp and let Aggra know that we still live. Tell her that I am moving on to the Wild Overlook and that we will all meet up on the northwest side of the island. I expect to see you there.'

Marcei nodded. She had no idea what the "Wild Overlook" was, but she was pretty sure she would find out soon enough.

Kilag turned to the scout next to him. 'We will track down the Alliance and slay them to the last!'


	14. To Skewer, Then Be Sliced Twice As Bad

**This took a while. And I have no really good reason. I was just busy.**

**A couple days ago, I shifted the documents for this story into another hard drive so I could fit some movies onto my laptop. I went hunting for my story later, and couldn't find it. I had a metaphorical heart attack. So, because I already had chapters 1 to 4 backed up and I had kept 14 on me, I went onto here so I could copy and paste my story back into Word documents. I was at it for at least an hour, fixing up the weird spacing, re-adding italics, etc, when my computer started being really laggy, so I restarted it. Then, when I went onto my hard drive, guess what I found? I folder, right before my eyes, containing all 14 of my chapters. **

**Yeah, I know.**

*****Sigh*****

* * *

_**Chapter 14**_

Aggra gave Marcei the eye as if she didn't quite believe what she was telling her. When Marcei finished recounting her story, the orc studied her for a moment before speaking.

'I am not easily impressed, but if what you are telling me is true, then I have never before heard of such a thing. You have my thanks, Marcei.'

She looked up at the sun, which was just passing midday. 'Kilag should be in position by now. It is time for you to move forward to the Wild Overlook. The rest of us will pack up here and move out soon.'

Marcei folded her arms and leaned on her right leg, nodding. Aggra continued. 'Just follow the path north through the vale. Not so vicious any longer thanks to you, eh?'

Marcei smirked. She was still rather pleased with how her weed whacking idea had turned out. Ace would be pretty proud.

She froze, every train of thought having a pile-up.

Um.

No.

Just _no._

_Quite_ enough of that.

She blinked rapidly, shaking the idea out of her head. Stupidstupid_stupid_ . . .

Aggra hauled a small pack sitting by her feet onto her back. 'Kilag and his scouts will be keeping themselves hidden just off the path, but the Alliance are sure to spot them soon. You should hurry.'

Marcei nodded, straightening up. 'I'll go now.'

She re-tied her loose hair back up into a messy ponytail and jogged out of the camp, back through the vale. As the path she had cleared curved around, she saw a rough path out past where the plant carnage ended. There was a Y shaped intersection, and she could see Kilag to the left, just though a small clump of bushes. He looked up as she approached.

'Throm-Ka, Marcei. We have a problem.'

'You're joking, right?' she muttered as she slipped in next to him. Kilag raised a finger to his lips and gave her a pointed look.

'Keep your voice down. The glen north and west of here is crawling with Alliance assassins. Unfortunately we haven't been able to spot them.' His upper lip curled back in a snarl. 'The cowards! They hide and won't fight face-to-face.'

He looked her up and down, studying her intently. He narrowed his eyes, evidently thinking, and then looked vaguely to her left, lost in his thoughts.

'You goblins are known for your wondrous goggles,' he said suddenly. Marcei jumped slightly, surprised. Goggles? _Which_ goggles? You couldn't just say _goggles_. There's too many types.

'You might want to be a bit more specific there,' she muttered.

The hunter quirked an eyebrow. 'Surely you have a pair that will allow you to see them?'

Huh. 'Well . . . if you put it that way . . .'

She looked around her belt (seriously, she had to do something about all this) and extracted a pair of infrared heat focals. Hmm. They'd work.

She lifted them up and Kilag gave a satisfied nod. 'I need you to team up with one of my scouts and kill any of the SI:7 assassins that you spot.'

The orc next to Kilag looked up and gave a short nod, getting to his feet. Marcei followed in suit.

The orc gestured to a clearing scattered with huge trees in front of them. 'They're in there somewhere. Hiding.'

Marcei narrowed her eyes, looking around intently. She couldn't see anything – or anyone, for that matter. She gave the goggles a once-over - silver with blue lenses - and sat them over her eyes.

Instantly her vision became darker, with reddish sort of clouds surrounding anything that provided a heat source; orcs, Kilag's nightsabre, _and,_ even better, a few areas hidden in bushes and behind trees in the distance. Bingo. The Alliance ain't got nothing on her.

The scout looked at her. 'Can you see anything?'

'Yeah,' she muttered. 'Over there.'

The orc nodded and adjusted his gun in his hands. Marcei stepped into the clearing, her hand resting on a knife at her hip.

She scanned the area, looking for one of the assassins. She wasn't entirely sure what SI:7 stood for, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the Stormwind Intelligence. That was an assumption, anyway.

Her gaze followed the red heat waves over towards a wide tree. The colour was more intense there.

'Over at that tree,' she hissed, pointing. The orc growled and his grip tightened on his gun.

'We'll sneak up on them,' he muttered.

Marcei nodded and crept right up against the trunk of the tree, pressing herself flat against it. Making sure to keep silent, she slid out her knife and held it steady in her hand, edging around the side of the trunk.

Light breaths came from next to her, as if someone was deliberately trying to keep silent, regulating their breathing. Ha. Stupid human.

Not waiting a moment longer, Marcei whipped further around the tree and stabbed her knife into flesh, delighted by the yell of pain she brought with it. A male dressed in black getup and a dark turban covering the majority of his face slashed at her with his dagger. Marcei's own knife had left a long, ragged gash down his side. The blade made contact with her face, slicing her left cheek.

She let out a yelp, quickly stifling it and lunging out again. The human leapt backwards and her thrust missed.

Marcei growled and went to stab again, but before her knife came anywhere near him, a sword ran through the centre of his chest from behind. The assassin gasped in surprise and crumpled, his corpse hanging limp on the sword.

The scout came out from behind it all, wielding the weapon in question. Apparently, he had ditched his gun and chosen a form of slaughter more suited for close up combat. Another spy lay at his feet, practically drowning in blood that was gushing from an open wound in her stomach.

The orc carelessly shook the body off his sword. He was remarkably undamaged. He looked at Marcei, waiting for directions.

Marcei absently scratched the back of her neck and looked around. The sting in her cheek had quickly subsided to a dull throb, irritating her more than it was hurting. She was more bothered by the fact that pain was still pulsing through her head at a steady pace.

She scanned the area, not detecting any more signs of life, save a few jungle cats.

'I don't see anything, she muttered, 'but we're gonna have a poke around just in case.'

Without waiting for a response, she made her way over to a cliff, crouching as she did so. Rubbing her temples, she peered over the edge. There was more jungle below; a massive expanse of trees. She could see an edge of the island a few kilometres away in the distance.

Just as she went to turn away, a loud and bellowing roar shook through the trees. Instinctively, she dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. Some trees over to her left quaked and tumbled over.

A massive, black teraptor crashed through the trees, swinging its tail haphazardly and bellowing incessantly. Its head easily surpassed the height of the plateau Marcei was on.

The matriarch.

Quite obviously.

She swung her tail around as she turned, her roaring slowing to once every ten seconds. Marcei eyed that tail. Oh hell. That thing looked _lethal_. Three spikes jutted out on either side of it, and it was swung with such velocity that Marcei was stunned that beast hadn't taken out the entire jungle by now. But she was pretty sure she knew why the matriarch was so stressed.

She had to keep quiet. Always keeping her eyes on the matriarch, she wriggled backwards, slowly getting to her feet. The beast wailed again, looking in her general direction. She quickly spared a glace behind her. The scout was nowhere to be seen. She backed away from the ledge quietly, and started to turn around just as a knife sliced at her side.

Marcei let out a yell and whipped around just as a black shadow disappeared into the safety of the trees. She grabbed her own knife and charged after it, following the red wisps it left behind. Pain was splitting the right side of her torso, making running incredibly painful.

She stopped in the middle of a clearing, looking around. In a bush to her left, the red heat waves had all gathered together. She knew the assassin was hiding in there.

Wordlessly, she pulled out her shotgun and looked around, pretending to be unaware of her victim's location. She knew she was being watched. She counted in her head. _One. Two. . . _

_Three!_

On three, she whirled around and fired multiple times. A corpse toppled out of the bushes and slumped face-first onto the ground.

Marcei gave a small groan from all of the pent-up pain she was keeping in and looked back to where she had come from. Slowly, stumbling every few steps, she made her way back to there, trying to stem the blood trickling down her side. The cut wasn't huge, thankfully, but it still stung like a bugger. Rubbing the side of her face tiredly and not really looking where she was going, she stumbled back into the clearing.

Right into the matriarch.

The beast had its head poking over the top of the cliff, and it had its eyes trained on Marcei, snarling.

Instantly forgetting about everything in that moment, Marcei let out a shriek and tumbled backwards. The matriarch bellowed and its head swooped forward, narrowly missing Marcei by two metres at the most. Not even stopping to look back, Marcei scrambled to her feet and bolted back through a thicket of trees where she knew Kilag was behind – that was, if her sense of direction wasn't messed up.

She shot out through the trees straight onto the path. Kilag and the scout (phew. He was still alive. She would've had a lot of explaining to do otherwise) were waiting where she had left them. The nightsaber was curled up by Kilag's feet.

She skidded to a stop, breathing heavily. She was pretty sure the matriarch wasn't following her. The noise would have proved otherwise.

'Pretty sure we . . . killed them . . . all,' she wheezed, the oxygen finally starting to return to her lungs.

A delighted smile spread across Kilag's face. 'Well done, Marcei, well done. We'll make an orc of you yet.'

He leant down and shook his cat awake. The smoky blue-grey animal yawned and stretched out, taking its sweet time to clamber lazily to its feet.

'Time to move on,' Kilag said, scratching it behind the ears. 'We'd better hurry.'

He slung his gun into a long leather pouch over his shoulder. 'I sent Scout Brax along the road to the cliffs overlooking the beach to the west. I am going to put you onto Bastia. Travel down the path and let Brax know that we are going to take a different route.'

Bastia made a contented growl in the back of her throat, surveying Marcei up and down.

Without even asking for her consent, Kilag then picked Marcei up and plopped her on Bastia's back. Marcei crossed her arms and pouted for a second, but then decided she was on the beast anyway, so there was no point in kicking up a fuss. The cat hadn't tried to eat her so that seemed to be okay.

'We'll see you at the attack on the Alliance beachhead,' Kilag said. He bent down and muttered something in Bastia's ear and with that, the nightsaber began running along the path. Almost instantly, she rounded a corner and Kilag disappeared from sight.


	15. To Become a Cyclone - It's Pretty Weird

**Another update. I've just had another look at all of the quests put together, and I think that I'm almost halfway. I think when I've finished with the Town-In-A-Box/chicken related stuff, it'll be halfway. Hmm. Something to think about.  
Anyways, please review. Someone? Anybody?**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 15**_

The path constantly curved left and right, so often that Marcei didn't even bother to count. She was still up relatively high, because after a few minutes, she could see the edge of another cliff ahead of her. It seemed that Bastia was headed straight for it. The ground started to slope downward slightly, and the cat bounded over to the cliff where the path started to make its way diagonally down the face. Halfway down before the path looped around and went down the other way, Brax was waiting, watching the beach below. Bastia leapt the final few steps and skidded to a stop. Marcei slid off. The orc turned to her. He was wearing badly worn leather armour that had only two straps holding it up at the shoulders, his red hair was spiked up, and he was wielding a pretty dangerous looking cleaver.

'Hello, little goblin. Bastia is fast, no?'

Marcei nodded mutely and peered down at the beach herself. A camp had been set up; numerous crates and tents were scattered along the shore, and she could barely see some figures moving around.

'We have something very important that needs doing,' Brax said. 'Can you help us?'

Marcei looked back up at him.

'The Alliance have stolen something of vital importance to the Horde,' Brax continued. 'It is being held out on their ships.' He gestured out towards the Great Sea.

'At the other end of the beach is a gyrochoppa. Our battlesworn will cover your approach. Go retrieve the keys to the flying machine from one of their operatives then fly out to their flagship, the Vengeance Wake, and retrieve our precious cargo.'

Marcei nodded, and before she could say anything else, Brax let out an ear splitting battle cry. Marcei could hear answering ones below and suddenly the previously quiet beach was filled with yelling and clanging.

'Get to the gyrochoppa!' Brax roared, running down to the beach. 'Do it now!'

Marcei sprinted down the rest of the path and onto the beach. Several orcs had come from somewhere and were keeping the Alliance occupied. Marcei found that she was able to run past humans and dwarves rather easily.

Over towards the shore, she spotted a helicopter type machine that was whirring and making unsatisfying clacking noises. The gyrochoppa. A small figure was tinkering with something or other inside of it.

Marcei pulled out a knife and let out a battle cry of her own, running towards the figure. The gnome turned around and yelled in surprise when he spotted her. The best weapon _he_ could unleash was a wrench.

He parried her blow and ducked another, hopping about and doing his best to avoid her. His insolence was only brought to an end when Marcei sliced deep into his arm, and he lashed out at her with his wrench. It wasn't so easy for Marcei to duck. For the first time in her life, she had about half a foot on this guy. She grunted when the tool struck her on the shoulder, sending a shock down her arm.

That's it. She'd had enough.

It was so quick that he didn't even have time to blink. Marcei's knife went straight through his chest, the tip barely poking out the other side. He slumped, and Marcei shook him off her knife.

There was a silver key latched to his belt. She unhooked it and hauled herself up into the gyrochoppa. She took one look at the dashboard and groaned. It looked like overly-complicated gnomish engineering with lots of unnecessary instrumentation and safety precautions. Who _needs_ safety precautions anyway? She grumbled, making herself comfortable in the seat, before examining the keys and comparing them to all the gadgets wired into dashboard. Where the heck was the ignition?

It'll be a wonder if it flies without doing something weird, she thought, like turning into a chicken or shrinking down to the size of an ant.

She finally – _finally_ – tracked down the ignition and stuck the keys in. She looked around at all of the buttons again. Hey look, someone left their loose change in the ashtray. It wasn't useful to her at the moment, but it was cash. No one in their right mind would pass up cash, marooned or happily in the middle of civilization. She looked out at the sea. They said that their "precious cargo", whatever that was, is being held on the Alliance ship, the Vengeance Wake. There was only one thing to do . . . fly this thing out there and retrieve it.

She started punching buttons and pushing in pedals, surprised that something so . . . so _gnomish,_ was actually working. The gyrochoppa began to rise into the air. She steered it out into the Great Sea, and after a moment, three shapes began to swim into view. They soon solidified into giant wooden vessels, strung with white sails. Marcei lowered herself slightly and strained to read the writing on the sides. The one in the middle read, _Vengeance Wake_. Bingo.

She had started to lower it towards the deck when a loud hum ran through the machine. Lights flickered, and something started to crackle.

'Damn it,' Marcei muttered, gritting her teeth and pushing some buttons. But it was gnome engineering. It was destined to be pathetic. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable bang.

When it finally came, Marcei was flung out of her seat. Instantly, her reflexes kicked in; she tucked in her knees and tumbled onto the deck in a roll. A startled sailor dressed in a loose white blouse gave a yell and pulled out her sword. Marcei had her knife out and flung before she finished the action. With a grumble, Marcei pulled her knife out of the sailor's chest and dusted herself off properly, looking around. The cabin looked like the best way to go at the moment.

It seemed to be divided up into three rooms, all behind one another. The room at the very back seemed the most promising because of the blue-purple glow coming from it.

She didn't run into anyone else at first as she made her way through, and she was convinced that this whole recovery mission had been way too easy. But, as she poked her head into the final room, the crackle that split her ears was incredibly painful. She yelped and clapped her hands over her ears, leaping backwards. The sound was similar to when Evol and Fizz would have their arcane wars back on Kezan, but multiplied by a hundred, and right in your ears.

She pulled her shotgun out again and edged herself up against the doorframe. The room was a bedroom, so there were plenty of things she could dive behind. Like the bed.

She didn't bother to count this time. She dove into a roll and slid neatly in beside the bed. A bolt of electricity narrowly missed her head and fried the wall behind her. She flattened herself on the ground, peering underneath the blankets. She could see a pair of black boots over in the far corner, past the base of something that was emitting the purple light. Still clutching her gun in her right hand, she wriggled underneath the bed. The feet didn't move. She knew their owner was waiting. She shuffled further forward, and let out a small grunt when her head moved up slightly and hit the bed frame. Another bolt of static shot straight past her. She kept quiet this time, and after a moment, a small and completely hopeless plan came to her mind. If she remembered right, there was a steel tray on the table next to the bed. If she could grab it . . .

She rolled out from under the bed and leapt up, avoiding another bolt. She grabbed the tray off the table and held it up in front of her face as a shield, just as another blow struck. Instantly, the tray went red hot and started to melt. Marcei yelped and dropped it. Her hands were bright red and were starting to blister. Wincing, she finished her victim off with her gun.

With a small moan, Marcei sat down, nursing her burnt hands in her lap. She looked over at the human. He was dressed in purple and gold robes, and runes were inked onto his hands. A wizard. She looked at the object next to her. It was a cage of sorts, and it was a circular, rotating lock that let off the light. Runes rotated around the edge.

In the cage, was an orc. As she noticed him, Marcei got hurriedly to her feet, making her way over to the lock. The orc was dressed in animal skins and wore a hood covering his face. Marcei examined the lock, speaking as she did so. 'I don't think I know how to open this thing.'

'Try doing it manually,' the orc answered. His voice was low.

Marcei pulled the kaja'mite drill out of her belt she had used to bust open that bank vault only a couple of days ago. Before she started however, the runes flickered and their colour died, leaving them a dull black. Marcei shrugged and bored into it anyway.

The door swung open and the orc stepped out, letting down his hood. He was not extremely aged, however there was a sort of look on his face that revealed that he had seen many battles.

'If not for you, I would surely be on my way back to Stormwind to be paraded as a trophy and a slave,' he said. 'The Alliance dogs found me unconscious on the shore and put me in this cage. It was keeping me from connecting with the elements.' He straightened up, a fiery light burning in his eyes. 'No longer!'

Marcei felt her eyes widen, and she almost backed away. The sudden realisation of just _who_ she was talking to had set in.

'Thrall . . .' she murmured, her brain working. But . . . what -?

'I never thought that I would be a prisoner of the Alliance again,' Thrall said. 'I cannot begin to express my gratitude to you . . .' He paused. 'Marcei, is it?'

Marcei nodded slowly, still thinking, not particularly baffled by the fact that he somehow knew her name.

'I will meet you up top and from there we will deal with them.'

She blinked. _Up top_ . . . Wait . . . what? She had only just noticed the pounding in her head was still there, and nothing was registering properly. _Up top . . ._

Before she could come to any realisation, Thrall had disappeared. She chewed her lip, still thinking. She might as well go.

She left the cabin and took the stairs that lead to the deck above it. Thrall was standing atop some crates, swirling his hands in the air. The wind was constantly changing direction.

'Winds of boundless fury, unleash your tempest upon the Alliance!' he roared. 'Spirits of the sea, rise and lay waste to my enemies! Power of the ocean, heed my call!

'Brothers of Earth and Fire, Sisters of the Water and Air, hear me! Azeroth stands on the brink, its existence near an end! Lend me your power as in times past with my ancient ancestors. Allow me to channel your will through this child of Kezan. Let us put an end to those who would keep us from healing the world!'

The wind began whistling heavily in Marcei's ears, and she found herself dissolving into water particles. She let out a strangled yelp before her entire body vanished. She had no idea how she was seeing anything. A column of water rose from the ocean and started rotating like a cyclone, building itself around her.

As soon as the cyclone had formed, it started to move out towards the ocean, where, Marcei noticed for the first time, the other two ships had been destroyed and those who had survived it were either gathered together in small paddle boats or were wading in the water. Something rumbled in her ears, and it was so loud she wished she could block out the sound, if she, you know, _had ears_. Bolts of lightning lashed out and fried the nearest boat. Marcei couldn't say she wasn't surprised. These spirits were_ lethal_. Another shock went into the water, electrocuting everyone in it. Marcei winced. The problem was, she had no control over this cyclone. At least, not that she knew. It seemed that the spirits were um . . . _possessing_ her in a way, and using her to fulfil Thrall's bidding. Hmm.

She wanted to _try_ though, all the same. She concentrated really hard, focusing on a boat to her left.

Either it was chance, or she had it, but another jet of lightning struck the boat, causing it to catch fire and shatter.

She looked around. Nothing was left? Wow. That was quick. But what did she do now?

Almost as if to answer her question, the cyclone started to move back towards the island, rising up higher. For some reason, it didn't do any damage to the natural landscape. It whirled over the top of the plateau where Marcei had been earlier and followed the path back to the Y shaped intersection at the Wild Overlook, taking the other path. Marcei could see that something had been set up there.

Suddenly, the winds dispersed and Marcei's own form reappeared, and she tumbled to the ground, landing with a heavy _oof._

She groaned, and clambered slowly to her feet. The casualties she had gained today were astounding. A concussion (Ow. It really hurt. And there were these annoying black spots dancing in her eyes too), a knife to the side, a knife to the face, burned hands . . .

She looked up. She could see a rocket propped up on a diagonal bamboo ramp, and a few machines around the area. She could see some more backup rockets off to her left.

Well. Someone _had_ been busy.

All of the surviving goblins were queued up, and one at a time, they were all climbing into the rocket. After a few got in, the rocket launched, sending them over to the next, and much bigger island. Marcei spotted Thrall and the rest of the orcs all together, overseeing the process.

Marcei jogged over to him, and he turned as she approached.

'If frying everyone in sight is what you wanted me to do, then, well . . . yeah, it's done.'

Thrall gave a small smile and nodded. 'You have done what few others could have, Marcei. Our world owes you a debt larger than you can possibly understand.'

Marcei decided to ignore the comment she could have chosen to have taken as an offence, and decided to just roll with it. She nodded.

'Our destinies are forever intertwined. There are events taking place that are reshaping our world and ultimately will destroy it. We must put an end to them before it is too late. Know that you can always count on me, sister. We will meet again on the larger island.'

'We will?'

'Indeed. May you find peace until then, Marcei.'

He turned back to his orcs, and began speaking to them. Marcei knew it was her cue to leave. She turned around and spotted Sassy attempting to keep order with the rocketing business. She made her way over to her.

Sassy looked up and her eyes widened. Instantly, she abandoned whatever she was doing and grabbed Marcei by the elbow, leading her away from everyone.

'Is that who I think it is?' she asked, casually jabbing a thumb towards the orcs. 'You rescued Thrall, _Warchief of the Horde?_'

Marcei nodded mutely. 'I guess. If you wanna look at it that way.'

Sassy gave her an appraising look. 'Well, let's see about getting over to that larger island. I sure as heck don't want to swim the strait with all of those sharks down there.'

Marcei chewed her lip, quirking an eyebrow. 'Elaborate.'

'While you were rescuing the Warchief and saving us all from the Alliance, Foreman Dampwick built this rocket sling to shoot us over the shark-infested strait to the bigger island.' She gestured offhandedly to the rocket setup.

'Luckily for us, the foreman managed to salvage a Town-In-A-Box from the shipwreck. Once someone gets it set up, we'll have a town of our own.' She had a gleam of anticipation in her eyes. 'I can't wait to sleep in a bed again.'

'Dampwick's down there at the Landing Site, waiting for you.' She looked back at the ramp, where more goblins were being loaded in. 'Take the next rocket over.'

Sassy grabbed her by the elbow once again and started steering her over. Marcei spotted the trouble almost instantly.

Gallywix was standing up on a crate, giving Marcei a heavy glare. 'You think you're such a bigshot, saving everyone and making friends with these orc savages?'

Marcei gave a return glare. Sassy's grip on her arm tightened. 'Not now, Marcei,' she whispered.

The look on his face was utterly furious. 'I'm going to crush you! I'm the Trade Prince! Me! I've got a plan that's going to get me off this island and make me the king of Azshara! Mark my words! I'm going to get you, Marcei!' He turned to the rest of the goblins. 'I'll get you all! Out of my way!'

He ran over to the rocket, shoving everyone aside. He leapt up into it and launched off.

Marcei crossed her arms and growled. 'Bloody obsessive . . .'

Sassy tugged her over to where the next rocket was being loaded onto the ramp. 'Come on. You get a VIP pass to the front of the line.'

Marcei sighed, but obliged to Sassy's insistence. She hauled herself up into the rocket and bounced about in the seat, making herself comfortable. She chewed her lip, thinking. Was this really a good idea? Oh, well. She punched the launch button.

The rocket rumbled and shot off the ramp, flying into the air. It curved over in a semicircle, diving towards the second island. The nose of the rocket was making a beeline for a small clearing.

Only then did the thought hit her. This thing was going to crash. Damn it. She really had to put more thought into these things than just, _is this really a good idea?_

She took in a breath, watching the ground approach faster and faster. Her best idea at the moment was to jump out at the last minute. Still, that was better than nothing.

She positioned herself, ready to spring.

Three.

Two.

One.

She leapt out of the rocket just as it made contact with the ground and exploded, the force of the crash flinging her to the side. She landed on her side and the impact with the ground knocked all of the air out of her lungs. She coughed and gasped for a minute, straining to breathe.

The first thing she saw was Dampwick running over. 'Marcei! I sure am glad you survived the trip . . .' He paused. 'Not everyone did!'

'That's nice,' Marcei choked, getting to her feet.

Dampwick nodded, obviously missing her sarcasm. 'Less mouths to feed, that way.'

Marcei exhaled, ignoring him. She looked around at the clearing, where right in the middle there was a massive pile of explosives. 'What's that?' she asked, pointing.

'Well,' Dampwick said, 'here's the plan.'


	16. To Set Up The Town-In-A-Box

**Hey!**

**I'm aware that this update took longer than usual, but I have a valid reason. The computer that I play WoW on currently doesn't have any working internet, so I can't hop on and do "research", ie, jotting down what everything looks like. My perfectionist-ness-ness-ness will kick in if I start to make descriptions up that aren't based around characters. Unless, however, I start to weave a false image in my mind about a week after playing, because the reality has started to fade and I'm to lazy to find my bit of paper with the description on it. But other than that, well, it's not really doable. So . . . the next update may be longer than a week. Maybe. You might get it on the weekend if you're lucky, and I've taken the time to fix the computer. Anyway, read, review, and I hope you enjoy. Hopefully.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 16**_

Marcei waved her hands in a "go on" motion. 'Well?'

'The Trade Prince had an entire town-in-a-box in the ship's hold. I managed to recover it while you were out saving all of our skins.'

He pointed to the pile of dynamite. 'Do you want to do the honours? All you have to do is climb to the top of that huge pile of explosives and push the plunger, and whamo kablamo, instant town!'

Marcei blinked. 'How bloody _suicidal_ is that?' she asked incredulously.

Dampwick chucked a parachute at her. 'There you go.'

Marcei turned the small, white parcel around in her hands, still glaring at Dampwick. 'How far up am I gonna go?'

Dampwick turned a funny colour. 'I think I'll leave you to figure that one out.'

Marcei blanched. She turned around to take another look at the pile of dynamite practically looming over her – it was _that_ huge. She gave a small blastcracker by her foot a kick.

'Careful!' Dampwick yelped. The glare she gave silenced him instantly. She lodged her foot into the pile and started hauling herself up.

It took at least thirty seconds to reach the top of that god forsaken pile and get into a relatively stable position without sending dynamite tumbling down the side. She looked at the plunger. It was wired into the large explosives hidden deeper in the pile.

With a small sigh, she gripped her parachute tightly and shoved in the plunger.

The effect was instant. With an ear splitting _boom_, Marcei was flung higher and higher into the air.

Forty feet . . .

Fifty feet . . .

Seventy feet . . .

A hundred feet . . .

Two hundred . . .

Soon, the island and everything below was swallowed up by the clouds. Marcei clung onto the parachute. Damn it. She forgot to put it on.

As she was trying to loop one arm through a strap, Marcei realised that she wasn't going up anymore.

She was going down.

Letting out a scream that probably wasn't the most appropriate, she grappled desperately, feeling around for the strings. Her hand gripped the left one, and a few moments later, she then found the other one. The rope stung her burnt hands. Giving a final yell, she tugged the left string, then the right. The parachute billowed out of the top of the pack and caught the wind.

Marcei moaned with relief as her descend slowed considerably, and started adjusting herself so that hanging on wasn't so harsh on her arms.

A few minutes later, she sunk past the clouds and the newly established Town-In-A-Box popped into view. Marcei tried to keep control of her wildly swinging legs and felt her heart rate slow as she got closer to ground.

She touched down on the grass in the middle of the town, and collapsed to the ground in relief, tossing the parachute as far away as possible. It tumbled down the side of the hill and out of sight.

She groaned and put her head between her knees, trying to not acknowledge the violently spinning world around her. She exhaled deeply, just wanting to go to sleep. She'd had enough. A girl could only handle so much in a day, you know.

Dampwick stumbled out from behind the electricity generator, waving smoke away from his face and coughing. He looked up and scanned the area around them.

'Hey! Where's the dock? Someone stole the dock and the oil refinery from our town-in-a-box!'

He looked around wildly. 'Who would do such a thing?'

His gaze snapped up to Marcei's. 'Where's the Trade Prince?'

* * *

Soon after, the sun started to set, so Marcei and Izzy had retired to one of the buildings for the night. Marcei had curled up and gone to sleep almost instantly. Izzy could only wonder _what_ she had gone through in just one day. She had been a real cow about letting herself get patched up too. She had waved just about everything off, going 'I'm fine, I'm fine,' but, _seriously._ The girl looked like she was going to drop dead any minute. There was a diagonal slash running from the corner of her eye almost down to her chin, her side looked way too red to be healthy, her hands were a nasty, burned colour, and she was stumbling just about every step, her eyes tired and unfocused. If she was _fine_, then Izzy was a hobgoblin.

They had set up a nest of blankets together in the corner of the room, away from the majority of the goblins. Most were still stuffing their faces with whatever food was around. Probably. She gave an exasperated sigh. And if there was food, there was Ace. There really was no point to wondering where he was.

Izzy saw Candy-I'm-queen-of-the-world-Cane tugging along her supposed _boyfriend_, Chip Endale to . . . well, wherever Candy goes. Izzy glared. She had yet to kick that good-for-nothing bastard where it hurts. _No one_ gets away with breaking her best friend's heart. No one.

Someone plopped down beside her. She turned to see Ace, sitting there and watching Marcei sleep.

'Finished feeding your face, huh?' she asked.

Ace blinked. 'Actually, I went for a walk.'

Izzy snorted. 'Yeah, right. Went for a walk to the _food_.'

He rolled his eyes. 'You're unbelievable.'

She smirked. 'What are you doing now, then? You do know that it's _incredibly_ creepy to watch someone –'

'What happened to her?' Ace demanded suddenly, his expression tight. 'Who –_what_ bashed her up?'

Izzy shrugged. 'Beats me. Biggest cow in the world, right there. Won't let anybody do something 'bout it all.'

Ace exhaled deeply, clearly unamused. 'Well, I'm doing something to fix it, whether she likes it or not.'

He stood up and left.

'_Okay_,' Izzy said. 'Or you could just leave . . .'

Marcei groaned beside her, mumbling, 'stupid, bloody . . . monkeys . . .'

Izzy quirked an eyebrow, and leaned back against the wall.

A few minutes later, Ace came back in, armed with a roll of bandages and a battered looking bottle of antiseptic. 'Sandscrew salvaged it,' he said, answering Izzy's unasked question. She nodded, and moved over so Ace could do his work.

He sat down beside Marcei's curled up form, gently shifting her arm away from her right side and moving the sliced remains of that part of her shirt so he could see the wound properly. His brow furrowed, and he tipped some of the antiseptic onto a rag, cleaning it. Marcei was obviously too knackered to wake up, but Izzy didn't miss the small hiss that escaped between her teeth.

Ace tucked one end of the bandage underneath her back and started wrapping it around her stomach, each round covering more of the cut. He tore the rest off when he had finished, tying the two ends into a knot.

Izzy felt her brow rise; she couldn't say she wasn't impressed. 'So, you actually have something in that air head of yours?'

He rolled his eyes and ignored her. He lightly traced a finger over the deep gash in Marcei's cheek, his expression getting - if possible - even angrier. He applied another round of antiseptic, this time earning a slight yelp from his patient. Somehow, miraculously, Marcei still didn't wake up.

'She's done herself in today,' Izzy muttered.

'You think?' Ace growled, searching for more signs of injury. He picked up both of her hands, holding them in his own and inspecting them.

'What the hell? These too?'

'I don't think you can do anything for them.'

He spent a moment thinking, then shook his head. 'Nah.'

He got to his feet, and started pacing around. 'Now, what the bloody fu-' - he stopped, looking out of the window, his figure stiff - 'did that to . . . her . . .' he murmured, trailing off.

He glared at whatever offending object was out the window and started making his way towards the door.

'Never mind,' he muttered. 'I'll figure _that_ out later.'

Izzy jumped to her feet, just in time to catch a glimpse of Chip outside. Everything clicked together in her mind and she lunged to grab Ace by the arm.

'Ace! No!'

'And why the hell not?' he growled, turning to face her.

'I'm not saying not _ever_, I'm just saying not _now_.'

The look he gave her almost made her recoil. But she stood her ground.

'Do you know,' he snarled, 'just_ what_ he did to her?' He pointed to Marcei. 'Your best friend!'

'I know,' Izzy said, putting emphasis on the placating tone in her voice. 'The arse has it coming. But if anyone is gonna bash the living daylights out of him, shouldn't Marcei do it first?'

'And if she doesn't?'

Izzy didn't have an answer to that. 'Well . . . oh, I don't know. She's not _that_ placid. Just, _please_?'

Ace looked like he wanted to argue, but Marcei groaned from her nest in the corner, and he spun around instantly.

'You should go,' Izzy hissed. 'She'll flip if she knows you're here and hasn't had a chance to run yet.'

He grumbled, but obliged and left.

Izzy plopped back down in her spot next to Marcei and curled up in a comfortable position, just as she started to stir.

'Whaz . . .gonon . . ?' she mumbled groggily, one eye slightly open.

'Go back to sleep, hon,' Izzy replied.

Marcei was obviously too tired to argue, so the eye closed and she went silent.

* * *

When Marcei woke up the next morning, the sun had only just risen. Izzy was puttering around doing whatever she was doing next to her, where she had been last night when Marcei passed out.

Marcei struggled to sit up, feeling incredibly stiff. She put a hand to her torso to find a thick layer of bandages.

'What in the name of –?'

'It wasn't me, it was Ace!' Izzy squawked, instantly leaping up out of Marcei's range.

Marcei raised an eyebrow. 'Who let him near the medical supplies?'

'Uh, Sandscrew. Why?'

'Because he doesn't know how to bloody well use them! Do you know how _tight_ this is?' she asked incredulously, gesturing to the wrapping around her stomach. Izzy shook her head mutely.

'When did he come in, anyway?'

She thought for a moment, then said, 'a bit after you dropped off. Couldn't say he was too happy to see the state you were in.'

Marcei stopped, all of the rants she had prepared in her head disappearing instantly. '_How_ unhappy?' she asked slowly.

Izzy bit her lip, suddenly looking a bit nervous. 'Um, a lot? And is it a problem that he almost went after Chip?'

'_What?_'

Izzy winced. 'I stopped him.'

Marcei exhaled deeply. 'You know what? I change my mind. You should've let him. I couldn't care less what happens to that -.' She trailed off into a long chain of colourful swearing. An eyebrow started travelling up Izzy's forehead.

'Uh, next time I see him, I'll let him know,' she said.

There was a yell outside. 'Oi! Where's the boss? _Marcei?'_

Marcei groaned and flopped back into the blankets. 'I am _sick_ of running people's errands! They can do it themselves!'

'I think you should go,' Izzy muttered, looking out the window. 'Dampwick looks pretty desperate to find you.'

Marcei gave a non-committal grumble and grudgingly allowed Izzy to pull her to her feet. She retied her hair and rubbed one side of her face tiredly, stepping outside, straight into Dampwick. He didn't even really bother with any sort of greeting.

'Heya, boss, Hobart Grapplehammer wants to speak with you. He says it's a matter of some urgency.'

Marcei huffed and crossed her arms. 'Fine. Where is he?'

Dampwick looked around, then turned back to her with a shrug. 'Beats me.'

She groaned. 'Now I have to go _find_ him?'

Before Dampwick could respond, she pivoted on her heel and stalked off.


	17. To Be Assigned Mass Amounts Of Poultry

**Damn, this took a long time. But I only got my computer fixed last week, and I lost the 800 words I had of this chapter earlier this week. I only really wrote this chapter this weekend. **

**Oh well. It's here, no?**

**Now, can someone _please_ review? Please? Just, like I've said before, no hate. Please?**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 17**_

At the other end of Town-In-A-Box (it really wasn't that big. Just a few buildings and a lot of machines) Hobart was harassing poor little Assistant Greely, who was dutifully doing her job and always replying with an 'absolutely, Mr Grapplehammer'.

Now, don't get her wrong, Marcei loved Greely to bits and pieces, but she really thought that the goblin ought to get her priorities in order. She was way too obedient. (Psh. Obedience. Marcei didn't follow anyone. Not for anything.) Though she supposed Grapplehammer wouldn't survive without her. After all, Greely _was_ the brains of this whole "inventing" business. Grapplehammer was just the overlarge ego.

As Marcei made her way over to them, Grapplehammer turned. His silver goggles were blackened as though _he _had been doing some work for once.

'There you are!' he grumbled, sounding irritable. Marcei crossed her arms defensively.

'Whaddya want?'

He took a deep breath. 'Ridiculous! The greatest goblin mind of his time reduced to _food detail?'_

He practically turned a deeper shade of green as his blood pressure rose.

'Do I look like I should be rounding up escaped cluckers? No, my friend, not I. Bamm most definitely, though he's too lazy. Your station in life has recently taken a turn for the worse. You do it!'

Marcei blinked. '_Excuse me?_'

'You're excused,' he snapped. He shoved an armful of fireworks at her. 'Take these remote control fireworks and attach them to the cluckers, and be quick about it!'

Marcei felt a muscle below her eye twitch. 'You know what?' she snapped. '_Fine!_ I'll _do_ your bloody chicken duties!'

Hobart nodded in approval, evidently missing the anger that was rolling off her in waves. With a growl, she turned and stalked off.

The cluckers were running around to the north of town, like they were mentally addled . They were runty, blue birds with dirty feathers and purple heads. Marcei's original thought when she looked at them was _turkeys_, but she supposed they couldn't really be described like that. Sure, they were ugly, but in a cross eyed, big beaked sort of way. Well, they could be like turkeys, just stretched a bit taller. They weren't very bright, either. Marcei had marched right up to one and snatched it up before it could squawk. Still fuming about Grapplehammer, she tied it to a firework and chucked it towards town. It zoomed off, still oblivious to everything around it.

As far as Marcei knew, there were only fifteen cluckers that came with this town, so she only shot off fifteen. She could blame Grapplehammer if she was wrong. Sure enough, when she got back, all fifteen were lined up beside the Pultryizer, where Greely was looking after them.

Hobart beamed when he saw Marcei, evidently happier than he had been earlier. 'Success! Was there every any doubt?' He turned around to Greely. 'Greely, fire up the Pultryizer!'

Greely gave a quick salute and turned back to the machine.

A voice came from behind Marcei. 'Hey, Marcei, come over here, would ya? I've got something for you to do.'

Marcei sighed and turned, where Bamm was sitting on a crate in front of one of the houses,watching a goblin run up the rise to the east. She took a few steps forward, coming to a stop in front of him. 'What?'

Bamm smirked. 'Hobart thinks he's going to feed us on those tiny clucker eggs? Bah! We're going to get some real eggs!'

Marcei raised an eyebrow. 'Blokes and their_ appetites_. Aren't the eggs we have good enough?'

He didn't even have to think about that one. 'No!'

He pointed to where the goblin had gone. 'I've already sent up some traps on the raptor rise up the path to the east. Take a bunch of wild clucker eggs and lay them in the traps. The spiny raptors will go right after the clucker eggs, and then you'll get to trade up to their larger eggs.' He grinned. 'Genius!'

Marcei frowned. 'So, where's the nest?'

'Huh?'

'They lay eggs, yeah? So there's gotta be a nest somewhere.'

Bamm shrugged. 'You'll find it.'

'_That's_ helpful.'

'I know.'

Marcei grumbled. 'Just gimme the eggs.'

Bamm dumped a small handful of tiny eggs into her hand. 'Now go get me some omelette!'

'Yeah, yeah.'

* * *

The rise was behind the town, and like Bamm said, to the east. A cliff face blocked direct access, but a bit further north there was a slope that led up to it. A rough path had been made, and up on the rise it split two ways. Marcei ignored both paths and instead made her way to a clearing to the north scattered with a few trees, before stopping.

Raptors. Raptors _everywhere_. Big ones, small ones . . . well, they were all bigger than her anyway. And Marcei had to steal their eggs.

She winced slightly. This was going to be . . . easy?

She turned a clucker egg between her fingers. If she chucked one into a trap that was close enough to a raptor, it would attract its attention. She chewed her lip. It was worth a try.

There was a trap a while to her left, and a raptor was wandering up to it, sniffing it. Marcei flung the egg at the trap, where it smashed right in the middle of the metal jaws, onto a metal plate. The raptor bellowed and shifted its foot towards it, and the trap clamped over its leg. The raptor gave a shrieking cry as its leg snapped and the beast crumpled, thrashing about on the ground. Marcei didn't spare it a second glance and began looking around, shifting aside bushes and peering into them.

Hidden, just out of sight, was a large nest filled with pale, blue spotted eggs, at least the size of her head. Marcei grinned. Bingo.

She began tugging the nest out of its alcove, but just when she managed to get it free, it began falling to pieces. Marcei swore and looked around, making sure there were no more raptors. She turned back to the eggs, a growing feeling of irritation bubbling in the bottom of her stomach.

'That's it,' she grumbled. 'I don't care anymore.'

She picked up an egg and walked back to the slope, getting on her knees and setting it on the angle.

'Egg incoming!' she hollered, and let go of the egg. It rolled down the slope, constantly gathering speed, before stopping in a clump of soft grass at the bottom.

A yell of response came from the town, probably an order for her to bring it over there. Marcei ignored it.

'Come and get it yourself, you lazy sod!'

She got to her feet, turned around back to the nest and got another egg.

* * *

'I don't appreciate you making me come over here, but hey, look at the size of those eggs!'

Bamm looked at the collection of eggs in the grass and grinned. 'There's no way that Grapplehammer's going to be able to top those!'

Marcei huffed and pulled a face. 'You're saying I got these bloody eggs so you could best Grapplehammer?'

Bamm shrugged. 'So to speak.'

'You know your life has reached a particularly tragic point when it revolves around Hobart Grapplehammer,' she stated dryly.

Bamm didn't reply.

'Marcei, get over here!'

Marcei groaned. 'Duty calls.' She turned around back to where Grapplehammer was still over by the Pultryizer, frantically waving her over.

'_What?_' she asked exasperatedly, once she got there. Grapplehammer pulled a face.

'Bamm Megabomb? Who does he think he is? His spiny raptor eggs are no match for what we are about to recover!

'As you well know, each Town-In-A-Box is equipped with a micro mechachicken for just such a dietary emergency. Luckily for us, my keen intellect was able to deduce the location that our prodigious, pre-programmed poultry ran off to.'

Marcei snorted. 'Keen. _Sure_.'

Hobart's expression said that he was clearly not amused. 'Head north to the scorched gully. But beware, its circuit boards are fried and I imagine it's not so micro any longer.'

Marcei halted. 'Not so micro any _longer_?'

He shrugged. 'Who knows what could have happened.'

She glared. Great. Just _great_. With a growl, she turned walked down to the shore of the river the town was beside, and began running north along it.

_Stupid chickens,_ she thought irritably. _Stupid, lazy goblins who can't do their own work._

She stopped suddenly, and swore softly. There, puttering around along the side of the river and causing quite a ruckus, was the biggest mechanical chicken in existence. It was probably roughly the size of an orc (huge), with a tiny head and a huge body. The chicken squawked and flapped about, its head bobbing haphazardly.

As far as Marcei knew, her best option was to try and behead it, and hope that it exploded. From what she knew, Grapplehammer was after "The Biggest Egg Ever", the egg left behind after destroying a Micro Mechachicken. So, she was just going to hope that it worked.

She readied her knife. That thing had such a scrawny neck, she could probably slice it all the way through in one go. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

Marcei ran towards the chicken at full pelt, hollering profanities that, in all honesty, Chip was more deserving of than the chicken. The chicken squawked and its eyes glowed red, before a stream of rocket-powered eggs shot from inside its beak. Marcei yelped and dodged each one as it flew at her, and vaulted up into the chicken's back, hanging on to the metalwork.

The chicken craned its neck in an attempt to reach her, but before it could, Marcei has swiped its head clean off.

The explosion was instantaneous. Marcei was flung backwards with a yell, and she landed in the sand on her backside several feet away. The chicken's various limbs blew apart and the debris was littered everywhere. Right in the middle of the mess, sat an egg.

The Biggest Egg Ever, to be precise.

It was pale pink with purple markings, and a skull and crossbones printed on the side. Marcei got unsteadily to her feet and made her way over to it, brushing sand off her clothes as she did so.

It was the same _freaking_ size as her. Marcei blinked in shock, before pulling her senses together and pushing the egg along the sand, back towards town.

* * *

'Eureka! My genius saves the day yet again! Take that, Bamm Megabomb!' Grapplehammer grinned, a manic glint in his eyes. 'And now, to reap the benefits!'

'Greely!' he barked. 'Load The Biggest Egg Ever in the Pultryizer. Mechanuggets for everyone!'

Greely gave a quick salute. 'Genius idea, sir. Your brain power never ceases to amaze me!'

Marcei shoved the egg over to Greely and began helping her to load it into the machine.

'This thing is huge!' Greely said. 'Reverse the polarity on the Pultryizer. We'll have to shove it in through the outtake.' She flicked a switch and pointed to another hatch to show Marcei where to put it. They shifted the egg. It slid down through the hatch.

'There it goes. It should only be a moment now . . .'

The Pultryizer coughed and spluttered, spraying bits of eggshell everywhere.

Marcei bit her lip. 'Uh, is it supposed to do that?'

'No,' Greely muttered, frowning and punching buttons as her brain went into overdrive.

A loud crackle split Marcei's ears, and she yelped as hundreds of tiny pink and purple eggs began firing out of the top of the Pultryizer and splattering everywhere.

'Shut it down, shut it down!' Grapplehammer bellowed. '_The eggs are bad!_'

Greely punched a big, red button and the machine shut off. Bamm was howling with laughter, slapping his knee and his blonde hair falling in his face in the hilarity of it all. Grapplehammer bristled as his face went reddish-green from embarrassment.

Marcei folded her arms crossly. 'Damn, _please_ tell me we're done with all this egg business now!'


	18. To Laser Fry Sharks

**I swear the time between chapters is getting longer and longer. If you don't count that four month spasm after chapter 2, anyway. **

**Buuuut, yeah. Here it is, I suppose. And I know it's hopeless to beg for reviews. Just, could you consider it? Please?  
**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 18**_

Inhaling deeply, Grapplehammer began to regain some of his composure.

'Fine, fine, perhaps the whole egg thing didn't quite work out. Who's up for some shark meat?'

There were a few nods of appreciation in answer to that question, but Hobart pulled a face, giving Marcei a look that told her she would be going on a mission that she wouldn't like.

'Only one little problem. Well, a big problem, actually. A really _big _problem: The Hammer!'

'The what, now?'

'Of course, I have a brilliant idea,' he continued, ignoring her completely. 'Swim out into the strait to the west and get us some shark pelts. Give them to Greely. I'm too important to get my hands dirty with the small details.'

'How the hell am I supposed to get shark pelts?'

Hobart pulled a skinning knife from inside his jacket and chucked it to her. 'Drag the dead shark onto the shore and skin it. Simple!'

Marcei grumbled. _Simple_. Yeah, sure. Without saying anything, she tucked the blade into a loop on her belt and turned away, going in the opposite direction to which she had come, over towards the ocean.

The odd fin was zipping along the surface of the water, and only then did it occur to Marcei just how much she _hated_ sharks. There weren't all that many around Kezan, and she had only run into some once or twice, but it wasn't an experience that she desperately wanted to repeat.

Shotgun.

Damn, she had _never_ been so happy to have that weapon. She slipped it out of her pocket and gripped it in her hand – _no_, it wasn't shaking. Because sharks _aren't_ terrifying. Not even giant, goblin eating ones. No sir – making her way out into the cool strait.

'Oi!' she shrieked jumping up and down in the water, deliberately making a racket. Nothing responded. Naturally. She was going to have to go deeper.

Thus, she made her way further into the strait, past the point where the water easily reached her neck, until she was moving her arms to keep herself above the water.

_Then_ they began to notice.

Once of the grey fins began making beeline straight for her, and with another shriek, she fumbled with the shotgun in her hands before firing. The dead shark bobbed to the surface. Marcei paddled over to it, and avoided the blood filtering through the water around the corpse, before grabbing it by the tail and making her way back to the shore. Damn, this was a _big _shark.

She rolled the body onto the sandy shore and pulled out the skinning knife Grapplehammer had given her, before looking at the shark and wincing. Eugh.

* * *

'Damn it, I am not doing that again!' Marcei grumbled as she shoved a stack of shark pelts at Greely. Greely gave her a dry smile.

'Marcei, take it easy on Grapplehammer,' she said gently. She sighed. 'He's a genius, but he's got a fragile ego.'

'The day _he's_ a genius is the day_ I'm _Trade Princess!'

Greely blinked. 'Okay, then.'

She looked down at the pelts. 'Well, these will do very nicely! We're going to combine the shark parts and the robotic remains of the Mechachicken into a submersible that should allow you to rid us of that nuisance, the Hammer.'

'Seriously, will someone explain to me what this "Hammer" is?'

Greely raised an eyebrow, and swept a brown lock of hair out of her face. 'Have you seen that giant shark swimming around the strait?'

Marcei felt her jaw twitch. 'Oh. That.'

Greely gave a little laugh and shook her head. 'Don't worry. You won't be the one getting close to it. Come back in a bit when we're done.' She gestured to the pile of shark skin and Mechachicken remains.

'Right then.' With that, Marcei pivoted on her heel and went searching for Izzy.

* * *

'Why on earth do you keep on running off?'

Marcei huffed and looked up at the sky. 'Why are you so concerned about it?'

Izzy swept some sand into a small pile, not really looking at it. 'Because it's really pissing Ace off.'

Marcei groaned. 'Great.'

They were sitting on the beach a while away from town, and Izzy was pretty keen to get straight onto the topic of a certain unnamed goblin. And Marcei wasn't particularly happy with that.

'Well?'

Marcei exhaled slowly, actually looking at Izzy this time. 'Look. I completely lost thread of things that first night on the boat. I'm positively certain that Ace thinks I have some mental issue, as I broke down _just_ because my boyfriend dumped me.'

Izzy let out a noise of indignation. 'Well, that is the crappiest excuse I have heard in my _entire_ life!'

Marcei blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'He's been _worried_ about you, you stupid idiot. He doesn't think you're psychotic, or whatever you've managed to conjure up in that overzealous head of yours. And besides, I _know_ it's more than just that.'

'There's nothing else!'

Izzy gave her a disbelieving look. 'Sure, hon.'

Marcei groaned and flopped back into the sand. 'No, there _isn't_.'

'Tell that to the rest of the world. Trust me, even the _coconuts_ know that something's up.'

'What do the coconuts have to do with this?'

'They're a valid party in my argument, thank you very much.'

Marcei clapped a hand over her eyes. 'Bloody coconuts.'

'No insulting the coconuts! And we're getting off topic.'

'Ugh.'

'Come _on_. What else is up?'

'_Maybe_,' she started, the resolution that had been sitting in her head for the past few days finally deciding to make its appearance. She sat up and threw Izzy a glare. '_Maybe_ I just want to be sure there are no implications of an – of an "_us_".' She waved her hands about in a wild gesture to emphasise the point.

Izzy pursed her lips. 'You were never worried about it before.'

'Well, maybe _before_ I had a boyfriend!'

'A complete arse of a boyfriend.'

A muscle jumped below Marcei's eye. 'I know.'

'Anyway,' Izzy said, rolling onto her front and propping her chin in her hands, 'Ace _would_ make a better boyfriend.'

Marcei exhaled slowly. 'Izzy. Just _stop_.'

Izzy smirked slightly. 'Fine. Just consider it though.'

She grumbled. 'Cow.'

'I know.'

* * *

Greely beamed proudly at her creation. She and Marcei stood by the water at the strait, beside a steel control panel. The giant mechanical shark bobbed in the water before them.

'Combining the remains of the Mechachicken with these shark parts, we've assembled the greatest fighting submersible of all time.' She grinned.

'Hobart and I want you to pilot, Marcei.' She patted the top of the control panel. 'You can control it via this panel.'

Marcei flipped open the lid and examined the arrangement of buttons and knobs, not feeling extremely appreciative of the world at the present moment. Izzy's speech, particularly the bit about coconuts, was still sitting in her mind.

She tapped a few keys and the robotic shark began swimming out into the strait. Out in the distance, she could see a massive silhouette under the surface of the water. Greely punched a button on the panel and a small screen turned on, showing a camera that was obviously positioned on the front of the shark; or as Greely called it, the Mechashark X-Stream.

'Okay,' Greely started. '_This_,' she said, pointing to a big green button, 'sets off a laser beam. It'll do quite a lot of damage. And _this_,' she was now pointing at a purple button, 'will send a barrage of explosive eggs at the target. Not something you want right in your face.'

Marcei raised her eyebrows in slight admiration. 'Nice.'

Greely gave her an inquisitive look. 'You got it?'

Marcei nodded. On the screen, the massive shape of the Hammer was swimming into view (literally) heading straight for the robot. She punched the purple button, and at least twenty intact Mechachicken eggs flew from a hatch in the top of the shark and spiralled straight towards the Hammer. They went off with explosions so loud that Marcei could hear them from the water. The Hammer lunged towards the robot, teeth bared, and rammed into something. The control panel began sparking. Marcei swore viciously and began repeatedly jabbing the green button, effectively frying the shark.

'Uh, Marcei,' Greely said after a moment. 'I'm pretty sure it's dead.'

Marcei shrugged, feeling satisfied, and steered the crackling shark robot back to sure. 'Alright, then. Fine.'

A yell came from somewhere behind them. 'Greely! Is that shark dead yet?'

'Yes, Mr Grapplehammer!' Greely yelled back. Hobart came up beside them, looking pleased.

'Excellent work, my girl,' he said to Marcei. 'The Town-In-A-Box is saved thanks to my overwhelmingly unbelievable intellect and engineering know-how.'

Right behind him, where he couldn't see, Greely rolled her eyes.

'Anyway,' he continued, 'your work here is done for now, but there's no rest for the wicked, eh?'

'Huh?'

'Megs has taken some others over the hills to the southeast, just past the so-called Raptor Rise. If you follow the path east out of town and follow it south at the fork, you can't miss her. Apparently there's some trouble or other brewing with the snake-men at the ruins on the shore. Go see if you can't sort it all out, would you?'

Marcei raised an eyebrow. 'Snake-men? _Fun_.'

* * *

Less than two minutes later, Marcei was back up on the rise she had been on earlier to collect the raptor eggs, this time taking the path down to the south. It curved around to the east and down a slight slope, with a cliff on her left side and a hill on her right. Halfway down that slope, she found Megs, Brett McQuid and Ace, all gathered underneath a Bilgewater Cartel banner.

Megs and Ace were involved in a serious looking conversation, but Ace spotted Marcei over Megs' shoulder, gave her a tap on the arm and pointed. Megs turned, looking more than unhappy.

'Boss, we gotta problem.'

Marcei sighed and made her way over to them. 'Tell me something that's _new_.'

Megs shrugged indifferently. 'Looks like the naga down there in the ruins are preparing to invade our Town-In-A-Box. I have lots of dead scouts here as proof. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let them try. Let's get the jump on them!' She passed Marcei a pile of folded cloth. 'Could you lay down the foundation for our new coastal holdings by replacing their banners with our own? That's some prime real estate down there.'

Marcei looked all the way down to the bottom of the slope, where some old, crumbling ruins sat in among the swampy looking coast. She could just see the glinting of blue, purple and green scales in the sunlight.

'Yeah, alright,' she muttered in a monotone. 'At least it's not sharks.'

She clutched the banners in close to her chest and skidded down the slope, stumbling over the odd rock or two. The naga were becoming easier to see now, and their banners too. She sprinted along the sand, coming closer to the ruins while also slipping her shotgun out of her pocket with her free hand. She put a bullet through the nearest naga's chest and ran straight past it, over to a banner sitting on a raised platform. She ripped it from the pole it was attached to and pulled her lighter out from her boot, holding it to the corner of the dried out, purple and blue scaly material, making it instantly catch fire. She tossed it aside onto the sand, but didn't stay around long enough to watch it fry up. She pulled a Bilgewater Cartel banner from her pile and stood on tiptoe, just able to hook it onto the pole. The material unrolled to reveal the emblem; two wrenches crossed over each other.

It sort of fell into routine after that – putting bullet after bullet (and sometimes a knife) though naga hide, ripping off their banners, setting them on fire (or bombing them. It depended on what was more convenient) and replacing them with her own. She was ninety nine percent sure she had pissed those naga off big time. But it was certainly enough to satisfy Megs.

'I wish I could have seen the looks on their scaly faces when you blew up their banners and replaced them with our own.' She paused. 'On second thought, I don't want to be close enough to see their snarls.'

'However,' she continued, 'I've got a plan and you're the only one that I know crazy enough to even try it, let alone pull it off.' She shoved an inflatable rubber pony and a handheld pump at Marcei. 'I need you to take this irresistible pool pony. Yes,' she said sarcastically, 'I thought maybe I'd use it to swim with the naga.

'Anyway, take the pool pony to the Spawning Pool and inflate it. Then swim around their hatchlings with it on. I'll bet anything that the hatchlings will be lured away and follow you around. Bring them back here and we'll proceed with the next phase of the plan.'

Marcei raised an eyebrow. 'Why does it sound like I won't be liking this?'

Megs grimaced. 'Because you won't.'


	19. To Blow Up Faceless Sea Elementals

**Another update, another chapter, and _still_, no reviews. Sigh. Someday, Ice, someday. Anywho, I feel we're beginning to near the end. We may even be done by Chapter 30! Wow.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 19**_

Naga hatchlings. Safe, easy to manage, and completely adorable.

No, no, and . . . okay, maybe.

Marcei paced along the shore of the beach, looking into the ocean at the steep drop that occurred a very short distance away from the water's edge. Clusters of glowing water plants lit up what was evidently the spawning grounds. She could see the occasional snake-like naga swimming along the sandy bottom.

Marcei held out the airless pool pony and gave it a critical once-over. There was one problem with the current plan. If she was going to fill it up with air, it would float. And if she was going underneath, well, that wasn't going to benefit her in any way. She chewed her lip, feeling particularly irritable. Well that was just _great_. What was she going to do now?

She sighed. At the present moment, she was left with no other option. Who knows, it might be some warped pump that stops inflatables from floating. She fitted the nozzle of the pump into the small, one-way air hole, and pressed a small green button. With a whir, the pony began to fill up.

Thirty seconds later, Marcei was left with a completely inflated pony. It was a plus, she supposed. Now to see if it worked. She carefully sat it on the surface of the water, and let go.

It sunk.

It freaking sunk, and she had no idea how. She cracked a grin. Life had suddenly just become _that_ much easier. Without further ado, she pushed it out into deeper water, wading in behind it.

When it got to the point where Marcei had to put her head under, she looked around from above, trying to figure out where the hatchlings were while also trying to look past a large amount of seaweed.

Ah.

There we go.

They weren't too far away, just all swimming together by a small chunk of ancient ruin. Marcei shrugged slightly, took a deep breath, and went underneath.

Feeling incredibly aware of the limited oxygen supply she had, she made a beeline straight for the hatchlings, while also dragging the pony behind her. She had enough of her dignity left that she wasn't going to actually _ride_ it. And really, the plan would have been quite successful if she hadn't been attacked halfway through.

She had unconsciously felt it coming and whirled around just in time, narrowly dodging a crackling, blue ball of electricity. How what worked in the water without frying everything, she didn't know. She looked up to see a naga siren just metres away from her, baring her fangs and hissing. She was green from head to tail, with purple, scaly material worn like a robe. A green frill ran around the top of her head like a crown, before running down her back to the tip of her tail. She raised her claw-like hands, and another ball of electricity began to form between them. Marcei yelped and fumbled around for her shotgun. She had no idea if it was going to work underwater, but she had to try. She was already running out of air, and the sound she had let out just before didn't help that. She pulled out her gun and fired it.

Thankfully, it wasn't _too_ messy. At least, not enough to distract her from her mission. Once she had deemed the siren dead, Marcei turned back to the hatchlings, brandishing the pool pony in front of them. _That _got their attention.

And so Marcei began her swim up to the shore, checking every few feet to make sure they were still following her. She finally broke the surface, completely drenched and gasping for air. She paddled back to the beach, the hatchlings following behind her like lost puppies.

She turned around and looked at them. They flocked around her. She frowned, determined not to succumb to their relative . . . ahem, _cuteness_, and reached out tentatively to touch a bright purple one. It snapped her finger.

'Ow! You little bugger!' she fumed. She turned back to where she could see Megs and the group on the slope and started leading the hatchlings over to her.

'Oh, they're so cute!' Megs cooed. She went to touch one just like Marcei had, but Marcei swatted her hand away, giving her a warning look. Megs shrugged, undeterred. 'I wish that we could turn them into little plush toys and sell them for a gazillion macaroons!' She straightened up.

'Marcei, you and Ace need to march those naga hatchlings down there and use them as leverage to convince the leader of the naga to surrender to us. Ace knows where to go on the south side of the ruins . . . just follow him.'

Marcei winced as Ace held out several loops of rope, and began knotting the naga to it.

'I got these little hellions on a short leash, Marcei,' he said gruffly, while pulling another knot secure. 'The naga won't attack us while we have their hatchlings.'

After a moment, he stood up, holding the rope in one hand, then tugged the Bilgewater Cartel banner from the ground with the other. 'You ready to make their leader surrender, buddy?'

Marcei blinked. _Buddy?_ That was _not_ her name! What happened to "toots"? She gave a short exhale, regaining her composure, then nodded.'

'Okay, here we go.'

They both ran down towards the ruins. None of the naga attacked them, but rather stayed at a distance, looking hostile.

'We've got your hatchlings. You better not attack us if you know what's good for you!' Ace yelled. The naga didn't respond, still keeping away.

He kept shouting.

'We're planning on having a special naga appreciation sale after your surrender is all wrapped up! Thirty percent off most goods we have in stock. Red light savings on Kaldorei artefacts today only!'

Marcei sighed. He was on a roll, now.

'Oi!' he called, pointing his banner hand at some naga who were too close for comfort. 'You naga keep your distance. We're not kidding around here!' Their eyes narrowed and they hissed, but they moved away.

They ran south of the ruins and into the waters scattered with small islands, all wading distance apart. Ace led her over to three pillars, all placed like the points of a triangle.

'Alright, naga leader,' he bellowed. 'Come on out from hiding and surrender in the name of Marcei and the Bilgewater Cartel!'

The ground trembled violently and Marcei almost fell over. Ace, who was standing just behind her and slightly to her left, caught her, despite being tangled up by naga and a banner. 'Careful, there,' he murmured. Marcei flushed and straightened up. The ground was still shaking, and the water between the three pillars began churning and bubbling.

A giant figure rose from the water and hovered into the air. Marcei almost choked. It was blue with a long, angular head. It had two purple tentacles for arms, and was dressed in armour that looked like it was created from crustaceans and seaweed. A transparent ball of purple electricity surrounded it, and was evidently what was keeping it aloft. The most disturbing fact was that it appeared to not have a face.

'WHO DARES?' the Faceless rumbled. The sound was so loud that Marcei stuffed her fingers in her ears. The being looked over them both, and the naga, before speaking again.

'Little goblins? I remember when your race was created.' Still just as loud.

'I care nothing for your threats or these naga. Prepare to be removed from existence.'

'Um, Marce, this does not look good,' Ace muttered. 'I'm out of here!' He turned and ran, dropping the naga lead and the banner as he did so.

'Coward!' Marcei yelled after him. Her face was flushed. He freaking _left_ her. With a psychotic, crazy sea elemental!

'Now, young Marcei, you will die!' Marcei's gaze shot back up to the Faceless. Crap.

Letting out a slight yelp, she ran backwards, pulling out her shotgun. She raised and pointed it at the being's face (well, if it _had_ a face) and fired.

That had no effect on it. The Faceless roared in anger, of course, but it didn't drop dead like she had hoped. Damn.

She ran as a large tidal wave rose up to consume her, thinking about her options. If a gun wasn't able to harm it, then a knife wouldn't be able to either. Which left her with one other choice. Her favourite.

She started pulling blastcrackers out of her belt. Lots and lots of blastcrackers. She then fumbled to pull her lighter out of her boot, and began lighting the fuses, chucking them at the Faceless. They lodged themselves into areas of its armour where the material overlapped, and exploded.

It took about twenty to finish it off. The Faceless gave one final, agonising roar and dissolved into water particles, disappearing completely. Marcei exhaled and fell backwards into the surf, this time having no one to catch her. Not that she wanted him there.

The bloody _coward_. She _actually_ thought Ace had more guts than that. Though, in all honesty, when you look at goblins, it's always an every-man-for-himself situation whenever things get bad. But that didn't lessen the blow.

She stared at her reflection in the now-still water. There was a fresh cut on her forehead to compliment the one on her cheek, but nothing else was really all that different. One of the metal studs in her ear had been ripped out, but she could live with that. She hadn't even noticed it happen. She sighed and stood up, wobbling slightly. She supposed she had to report back to Megs.

* * *

'A Faceless of the Deep? What's that? That does _not_ sound like a naga!' Megs had listened to her story wide-eyed. She hadn't been able to see what was going on, as the ruins restricted her field of view. The noises had told her quite a lot, though. She also hadn't expected Ace to ditch Marcei like he had. That news went down with her wanting to smash his head in good and proper. 'Well, you killed it, whatever it was. It doesn't matter now. We have other fish to fry . . .'

'What?'

'We were wrong. It wasn't the naga that were preparing to attack . . . it was the nearby Oomlot tribe.'

'So you're saying you sent me after all those naga for _nothing?_'

Megs winced. 'Sorry. But you need to get back to the Town-In-A-Box. The pygmies are already attacking.'

'_What?_'

Megs handed her a giant, brown helmet with a spike on the top. 'Here, take this. We bought it off of a pygmy who said it used to belong to some great leader of theirs. Someone whose name translates as Dark Tan Helmet. It should fool them so that they don't attack you.'

Marcei took the helmet and sat it on her head. It fell down so it almost completely blocked out her vision. The inside smelled rank. 'Right,' she said, scrunching up her nose. 'I'm off.'

She stumbled up the slope and back onto the rise, and along the path. When she got to the slope that ran down the other side, she halted and lifted the brim of her helmet, looking around.

Pygmies were streaming down from the mountain slope to her right. They came in massive packs, all running with their stone spears and bone trophies strung around their necks. They didn't even spare Marcei a second glance as they ran forward, yelling in whatever jibberish their language was. Marcei joined the pack and ran down with them, blending in rather well.

She could see the goblins prepared for battle, with cannons lined up and pointing at the start of the onslaught. One fired and killed all of the pygmies in front of her. With that, she detached herself and made a beeline straight towards Sassy, who was standing with an axe, warning any potential attackers to keep away. When she saw Marcei, she yelled and went to swing. Marcei ducked and pulled the helmet off. The look of relief that crossed Sassy's face was more than welcoming.

'Marcei! We're saved!' She stopped and shook her head. 'Who am I kidding? We're all going to die!'

Marcei went to slap her, but Sassy caught her wrist, evidently regaining some composure.

'Marcei, you have to defend us!' she said, coming to a conclusion. 'I had the eggheads deploy the town's cannon defences, but it seems like there's an unlimited supply of these Oomlot warriors. Get your behind into one of those B.C. Eliminators and help eliminate the threat to the town!'

She jabbed a finger at the cannons, which some of the more experienced goblins were manning. Marcei nodded and ran over to one of the spare ones, jumping onto the seat. She began aiming the cannon further up, to where the stream of pygmies were coming from, and began firing repeatedly. That slowed down the flow by at least half.

'Okay, I think that's good enough for now,' Sassy said, coming up behind her and literally _pulling_ her off the cannon. 'But they took a bunch of the townsfolk captive. We're going to have to take the fight to them.'


	20. To Face An Even Bigger Problem

**Well, here it is, in all of its 3565 word glory. There's no way on earth this is going to take 30 chapters. We'll be lucky if we make it to 25.  
**

**Wow.**

**Also, my computer's being a laggy pain.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 20**_

They met up with Megs, who looked like she had run the distance from the naga ruins and back again ten times over. They were away from the majority of the mayhem, and were able to talk in relative peace.

'As you know,' Megs said, 'the pygmies took most of our people back to their village. Who knows what evil they're up to?'

Marcei sensed the obvious rhetoric to this question, and didn't reply.

'Marcei, you have to go up there and free all of the captives before the pygmies work their voodoo on them!'

'Like the orc?'

'Like the orc. Izzy's already up near Oomlot village to the southeast. She'll give you the heads-up on what's going down.'

* * *

'I'm glad that they sent you up here. I thought for sure they were going to send that jerk, Grapplehammer and his ego-enabling assistant.'

Marcei shook her head. 'Hey, no. Greely's fine, but badmouth Grapplehammer all you like.'

Izzy shrugged.

They were standing at a shrine just outside of the village, back up on the rise again, a little bit north of the ruins. There was a big totem pole at the back, with two turtle shell braziers burning on either side, and a pile of skulls sat in a pit before it all, a long, thin torch poking out of the middle.

'They've got a bunch of our people in there,' Izzy said, pointing to the village. 'I know that they're doing strange rituals to them. It looks like they're sucking the life force right out of them. Also, their leader, Yngwie, I think his name is, is too powerful to be left alive. He's barking nonsense from the raised west side of the village, across the rope bridge.' She pointed, where up on the side of the volcano, Marcei could see a small plateau, and a small bridge leading to it. 'Fair enough.'

'Right, but before you go, where's Ace? I thought he was with you.'

Marcei felt her heart stutter violently in her chest, and she whipped around, facing Izzy again. 'What? You haven't seen him?'

'Uh, _no_. Should I?'

'Well, _yes_. No one else has?'

Izzy's eyebrows travelled up her forehead. 'So he _wasn't_ with you. Crap. Where is he?'

'_I don't know!_'

'What happened?'

Marcei closed her eyes and held up a hand. 'Look, I don't have the time right now. If it turns out he's miraculously still alive after this, I'll kill him anyway, yeah?'

'But – ?'

She never finished her question. Marcei ran up the slope to the village and disappeared from earshot before she could.

The village was actually a lot bigger than Marcei expected. Sure, it wasn't as big as Kezan, but it was probably the size of one of the districts in it. Two more giant totem poles flanked the entrance and a bone fence surrounded the perimeter.

_Right, _Marcei thought as she approached the entrance. _Crazy voodoo people and big boss man. Basic enough. _

It was best if she went about this while attracting as little attention as possible. She pulled out her shotgun and reloaded the bullets (it was a miracle she hadn't run out yet, but the supply crates she had salvaged the other day had some) all while watching the movement inside the village.

It had been designed in a way that it had one main, long chunk, and little sections branching off. There were shamans almost everywhere, most of them occupied by the sickly green coloured miniature cyclones they were controlling. Caught up in the middle of those cyclones were goblins.

Marcei growled. Right. Action time. In the next three seconds, she had shot both of the guards standing outside of the village, and had made her way inside. She shot the neared shaman, and when the cyclone he had been controlling dissipated, the goblin dropped to the ground, coughing and barely conscious. She was female, with dark brown hair. Marcei grabbed her by the arm and tugged her out of sight.

'What's going on?' she hissed.

'Some of us are -,' she broke off coughing. ' - down here. They took the others up into the volcano. Some to turn into zombies, some to sacrifice to their turtle god.' She took a breath, wide eyed. 'They're crazy!'

Marcei nodded. 'Right. Get out of here before you're caught.' The girl nodded and ran.

Marcei chewed her lip. Zombies. They were turning them into freaking _zombies_.

* * *

Some of the captives couldn't be saved. They had reached the point where they were already mostly zombie, and Marcei had to shoot them to put them out of their misery. In the end, only five goblins survived, most of them on the brink of insanity. Five out of . . . about _thirty_.

Marcei began crossing the rope bridge. She had made it all the way to the end of the village, whilst killing all of the pigmies in her road. Now she just had to take out the leader. Yngwie.

Yngwie _wasn't_ Dark Tan Helmet. That was a relief, actually. She had a feeling that the latter wouldn't have been too happy about his missing headwear.

'_GOBIN!_'

_Excuse you?_ Marcei thought, grabbing her knife in her spare hand.

Yngwie was big, grey and rather furry. He also had big, bushy eyebrows, and eyes that pointed in different directions, just like the rest of his pigmy kin. The smell was no different, either.

Yngwie lunged at her, his crudely fashioned spear aimed straight for her gut. Marcei spun out of the way and dove downwards, slicing at his legs. The pigmy howled when she drew blood, bellowing at her in a way she was sure was very rude. She tumbled into a roll, coming out on the grassy ground behind him.

The ground was littered with unused spears. Slipping her knife and shotgun back into her belt, Marcei shuffled her foot underneath the nearest one and kicked it into the air, catching it with her left hand. She spun back around to face Yngwie and pointed the spear at him, taking a defensive position.

'Back!' she yelled, trying to make herself sound as intimidating as possible. This was a situation she didn't want to feel small in, even though Yngwie was almost twice her size; an impressive feat for a pigmy.

But, of course, Yngwie lunged anyway. Marcei shoved upwards, and the stone spearhead buried itself in his throat.

She didn't even really stay around long enough to watch him die. She knew he wouldn't survive that hit, and really, what else could he do?

Stupid.

She bloody _let her guard down._

'Argh!'

She was tackled to the ground in a flurry of "oosta!"s and bad smells. Flipping around and trying to get a grip on what had just knocked her feet out from beneath her, Marcei found a head and twisted it sideways.

_Crack._

The body disappeared from her grip, and Marcei sat up, blinking. What?

She looked around. All she could see was Yngwie with a torn and bloody throat. There was no sign of what had just attacked her. She got to her feet, her heart still pounding violently from the shock. _What_?

* * *

'Nice work, bud! Hope he wasn't too tough. What about the people the pigmies carted off?'

Marcei brushed some hair out of her face. 'I found five that were still whole. The rest that were there were zombies. I had to kill them.' She looked up at Izzy, who had gone grey. 'Go on,' Izzy murmured.

'Well, the majority they took up to the volcano.'

'Gosh,' Izzy muttered, her brain working. After a moment, she looked up, her expression sickened. 'You – you don't think they've got . . .'

Marcei's stomach dropped like a stone, the thought finally hitting her. No. _No_.

'Ace,' she whispered.

'They might _not_ have him,' Izzy tried weakly. 'I mean, if nobody's seen him . . . and, well, he's good at hiding . . .'

It took all of Marcei's strength not to lose it then and there. 'I have to get back to town. Sassy needs to know.'

Izzy nodded. 'I'll come with you.'

* * *

Sassy was still on guard with her battleaxe. All of the surviving goblins were still at their stations, protecting the town. 'They turned some of our people into zombies? Tell me something I don't know . . .'

'What?'

She pointed up at the tall mountain beside the gully the Mechachicken had been running rampant in. Ambling down the slope . . .

'Crap,' Marcei whispered. Izzy nodded in agreement.

Grey skinned goblins were shuffling down the side of the mountain. Hundreds of them. It turned out that a lot more than Marcei initially thought had survived Kezan.

Her gaze shifted to the goblins on the B.C Eliminators. They were firing at rapid pace, one of the goblins yelling: 'That's right! Look at the pretty flags!' Another was reassuring his friend. 'Don't worry. The zombies are looking for brains. You're safe.'

Marcei turned back to Sassy, who evidently already had orders. 'A whole bunch of people headed up to the top of the volcano to mount a rescue and counter-offensive. There's something horrible brewing up there on the peak. They're waiting for you before they make any moves against the pygmies.'

'I'll come too,' Izzy said. Sassy shook her head. 'We need you here. We might not hold the zombies off for much longer otherwise.'

Izzy looked ready to start complaining, but Marcei rested a hand on her arm. 'No. Stay here. If I –' She took a shaky breath and tried again. 'If I find Ace, I'll –'

'I know,' Izzy whispered. 'If he's a . . . zombie, do what you have to do.'

Marcei closed her eyes. 'It hurts,' she murmured. 'I don't want to _have_ to do it. I want him to . . . I want him to be alright.'

'Boss?' Sassy was watching them. 'He may still be okay. You know him. He is the most stubborn-arse goblin I know, and he won't go down without a fight.'

Marcei exhaled. 'You're right. I'm an idiot.' She drew herself up to her full height. 'I have zombies to fry.'

* * *

Coach Crosscheck, Foreman Dampwick, Assistant Greely, and two other goblins were up near the peak of the mountain, with a little barricade set up. This area of the mountain had two steep peaks, which was where the zombies were getting through. The area was piled up with crates, and the two goblins Marcei didn't know were decked up with weaponry, tasked with keeping the zombies up the top. Coach beckoned her over when he saw her. 'There you are!'

Marcei looked at the barricade. 'You stopped them.'

Coach nodded. 'Those zombies that got past us are nothing compared to the mob waiting just through the pass. If we don't deal with them soon, the pygmy witch doctors are going to send them against the town, and even the cannons down there won't be able to handle that many.'

'But they've _already_ attacked town.'

He shook his head. 'That was just a taster. I managed to bring a couple of shredder boots along. Greely here managed to mod them and now they're a lot more deadly.' He passed some metal boots to Marcei.

Greely grinned. 'They're pretty nifty, if I do say so myself.' She came over and poked her head over the top of the barricade, talking to Marcei as she did so. 'I'll give those pygmies one thing... they sure know how to party! But they're not so clever. I think I've discovered the source of their rockin' powers: Rockin' Powder. It just so turns out that this stuff, which turns them into world-class rockers, is also highly explosive. We must have it! So, while you're in there at Oostan-'

'The territory the pigmies have claimed just up through here,' Coach said, cutting in and answering Marcei's unasked question.

'-make sure that you pick up a whole bunch of the stuff,' Greely continued, as if nothing had happened. 'Trust me, you're going to need it for what's coming up.'

Marcei blinked. 'You made absolutely no sense there, but I'll get the powder. Okay?'

Greely jumped down from the barricade. 'There we go.'

'Look,' Dampwick said, coming over and cutting in. 'I think it's great and all that we're destroying all of those zombies, even though they're our friends and family. But don't you think we should be taking care of the pygmies that are creating them as well?' There was a murmur of agreement from everyone to this statement, and Dampwick continued, spurred on. 'According to my sources and a few dead people, at the three "Oostan" villages: Nord, Sor and Ost, there are witch doctors: Gaahl, Malmo, and Teloch. Maybe you could take care of them? I don't want to be turned into a zombie.'

Marcei shrugged. 'It's not like I can say no. My life's on the line, too.'

Dampwick patted her on the shoulder. 'Atta girl.' Marcei slapped him away. 'I'm going! Geez!'

She vaulted over the barricade, and was now on the other side. The Danger Zone. With a tiny exhale, she put the rocket boots on the ground, slipping off her own weather worn ones as she did so, before putting the new ones on. On each boot was a switch. She flicked them over and screamed as she was shot into the air when flames billowed out of the soles. The boots stopped rising when she was about six feet off the ground. Marcei put a hand over her heart, breathing heavily and swearing profusely.

'Now what do I do?' she called weakly, aiming the question at Greely.

'Lean in the direction you want to go!'

'Sounds . . . easy enough.'

She began leaning forward like she was on a Segway, and hoping desperately that she wouldn't overbalance and have her head planted firmly in the ground. She navigated through the pass and out into the clearing, swearing softly at the sight that greeted her.

Zombies were milling about everywhere, moaning and looking lost, but when the ones nearby saw her, they let out another groan and started making their way over. Marcei leaned forward, now feeling slightly euphoric that she could annihilate large numbers, and fried all of the zombies in her path. She could see the start of another village straight ahead. She sped off towards it, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake.

It wasn't until she actually reached the village – she really didn't know or care which one it was - when she encountered her first problem. She zoomed over to the nearest pigmy gleefully, ready to destroy the bloody thing with her newly acquired rocket boots (who honestly cared what they were officially called). She hovered right over it.

Nothing happened.

No wailing, no pitiful (not!) burning, no damage in general. The pigmy just looked up at her, craning his thick neck awkwardly with a 'da nooga blah oosta!'

At first, Marcei thought the worst of her concussion was kicking back in, and she was just seeing things. She scratched her still-slightly-sore hands, just to make sure. She hissed in pain and looked back down, her vision swimming slightly. Nope. He was still there, completely intact. Huh. Well, she'd have to ignore him for the time being.

In the middle of the village was a big bonfire, and a pigmy dressed in witchdoctor robes was standing next to it, hopping around and shouting voodoo nonsense at a goblin in front of him. Marcei made her way over to them and hovered above the pigmy, the little particles of frost he was summoning to freeze the goblin instantly melting. He looked up at Marcei confusedly. 'Oosta?'

Marcei slipped out her shotgun and fired. 'You always fight ice with fire, stupid!'

The goblin captive looked up at Marcei, terrified. 'You're crazy, and you're flying!'

'Get over it,' she responded bluntly. 'Surely those ropes are pathetic enough that you can get away?'

He raised his hands and the ropes tumbled easily off them. Marcei nodded. 'Right then. Off with you!' She left before he could respond.

The net village she found when she took a left turn among the hills and the trees, and this time when she had a faceoff with the next witchdoctor, she almost got electrocuted. But she killed him anyway, and that was what mattered.

For the last village, she had to double back to the first and take a slope that went east. This pigmy was a fire user. She could tell by the dead and charcoaled goblin corpse in front of him. With a yell, Marcei leaned forward and shot towards him, chucking her knife at his chest. It hit its mark, but not before the ends of her hair caught fire. She gave a scream she wasn't too proud of, and hastily patted them out. They were well blackened now, but she didn't really care.

She leaned over backwards, flicking off the switch on the boots. She landed back on the ground with an _oof_, right on a pile of silvery, grainy powder. She frowned for a moment, thinking. This was the powder Greely wanted, wasn't it? She looked around before grabbing a horribly made clay bowl from the nearest hut and filling it up with the stuff. She got back into the boots with a sigh. _Finally_. That took longer than she expected it to. Oh well. Back to the barricade it was, then.

* * *

Marcei touched down on the ground beside the barricade and pulled the rocket boots off, before slipping her own, considerably more comfortable one back on. She then hurried to bring the powder to Greely.

'This will do,' Greely said, inspecting it in Marcei's hands. 'In fact, it's more than we need. I devised an ingenious idea for a weapon that the boots will be turned into once you get them to Hobart. Hand the powder over and I'll load it into the boots.'

Marcei passed her the boots and the powder, a question nagging her.

'Greely, why do the boots only work on the zombies?'

Greely stopped, looking stunned. After a moment, she grinned. 'I'm so glad that you asked, Marcei! No one _ever_ asks how stuff works. It's just here, gimme that, I'm gonna blow stuff up. Or, don't bore me with the details, just let me point and shoot._ Or_, worse yet, who cares _how_ it works, is it a bigger explosion than last time?

'I swear sometimes I could just scream, you know? It's like I'm always doing Hobart's work for him, but I never get any of the credit! I have _got_ to be _the most_ underappreciated, overworked, and underpaid tinkers assistant ever!'

She finally took a breath, her rant evidently over. Then, she looked confused. 'Wait, what did you ask about?'

Marcei shook her head. 'Greely, hon? When did you realise this?'

Greely thought about it. 'About six months ago.'

'You did a good job, keeping all of that in. Besides, everyone knows that Grapplehammer's got too much ego for his overlarge head. Not as many were sure that _you _knew that, though.'

Greely blinked.

'Just something to think about,' Marcei added. She turned around to Dampwick and Coach, who were watching them with looks of slight hilarity.

'Right,' she said, drawing the attention away from the situation. She pointed at Coach. 'Zombies have been fried. Loads of them.' She then pointed at Dampwick. 'No more crazy voodoo pigmies.'

Both expressed looks of relief at her news, and Greely passed Coach the boots, muttering and pointing at various parts of them. Coach nodded and instantly passed them off to Marcei.

'You need to get these boots down into the caldera to Grapplehammer. Now that they're infused with the leftover rockin' powder, they should have enough thrust to get you all the way there in one shot. When you're ready, activate the boots. Don't worry, they're automatically set to land you safely. I think.'

With a sigh, Marcei took her normal boots off again, this time holding onto them. She stepped into the rocket boots, secured them, and bent over backwards to turn them on again.

With a strangled cry, she shot into the air, curving over the rather picturesque scenery of the pigmy villages, and over to a blackened, scorched area that was almost inside the volcano. The heat hit Marcei instantly, and she groaned. Great.

As the boots began to slow down, Marcei began to sink. After a few moments, she hit the hot ground of the caldera right in front of Grapplehammer.

'There you are!' he cried impatiently. He held out his hand for the boots. 'There's no time to waste, girl!'

Grumbling, Marcei slipped off the boots and shoved them at him, pulling her own back on for what she hoped was the last time. She'd had enough of rocket boots.

Grapplehammer inspected them, looking shocked. '_What's wrong with the actuator on the left boot?_'

'I don't know!'

Grumbling, he set them down on a makeshift workstation he had set up. 'Fine. I'll see what I can do. But I need you to get something for me.'

Marcei rolled her eyes. 'Should've bloody well seen that coming.'

* * *

**Review! :D  
**


	21. To Kill Gods & Deal With The Brainwashed

**Woah, even bigger chapter this time! And I seriously think, next chapter this will be finished. **

**Wow.**

**That's crazy.**

**Anyway, please review and I hope you enjoy!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**Chapter 21**_

'Volcanoth is the turtle god in the cave that these primitives worship,' Grapplehammer said bluntly, pointing to a huge, rounded cave entrance, about a hundred metres behind him. 'It's not really a god.' He rolled his eyes. 'But it_ is_ tough enough that I'm going to have to devise a new weapon for you from the only functioning boot we have left. I think that the age-old motto of "fight fire with fire" applies here. Plus, I like fire!'

Marcei rolled her eyes back at him. 'Gee, I wonder how I knew that?'

'Let's get some fire glands from Volcanoth's children,' he continued, as though he had not heard her. 'That should give me some time to modify the rocket boot into something more fitting.'

Marcei paused. 'Wait. You want me to rip these things out of their bloody _throats?_'

'How _else_ are you going to get them?'

Feeling slightly revolted, Marcei whirled around to face the rest of the scorched and blackened caldera, which was strewn with giant turtles. They were orange, with blue shells, covered in spikes. As she watched them, one or two let out a stream of fire. Great. Fire breathing turtles. Shotgun time.

In the end, Marcei guessed that those turtles had a pretty soft hide. Bullets had no trouble penetrating it, and she had killed a handful pretty easily. Now she had to do the real work.

Walking over to the nearest turtle, she wrenched open its jaw and knelt down, looking down its throat. Right at the back, she could just see a red gland, most likely the fire one. Heaving a sigh, Marcei pulled out her knife and cut it out.

* * *

'Careful with those glands, Marcei, careful!'

Glaring, Marcei passed over the fire glands to Grapplehammer, who inspected them keenly. 'And now to load them into the refashioned shredder boot. I'm certain that you'll be amazed by my genius invention.'

Marcei closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. 'Yeah, yeah.'

A handful of minutes later, Grapplehammer passed over a completed weapon that still looked a lot like a boot.

'It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but the Bootzooka, patent-pending, is ready for use. These no-good pygmies have been feeding our people to their "god", and they're about to unleash it on our town! So, you have to get into that cave and kill that thing before it's too late. Just be careful with the Bootzooka . . . it may fire some extra missiles from time to time.'

Marcei took a moment to absorb all of that, and Grapplehammer peered over her shoulder at the mouth of the cave. 'There they are!'

The sounds of a violent scuffle ensued, and Marcei whirled around to see a handful of pigmy guards being kept busy by some well-armed goblins.

'Go in now, while they're occupied,' Grapplehammer advised. Fully agreeing with that, Marcei ran up past them and into the giant cave. Marcei ran along the tunnel, getting increasingly hotter as she neared the inside of the volcano. In the distance, she could see the tunnel open into a giant, steaming cavern, and there was an outcrop of big rocks just before it. She could see a giant pair of gleaming, red eyes, which clearly belonged to the cave's inhabitant. Volcanoth.

She inched closer to the giant, fiery turtle, constantly keeping her eye on it as it came into better view. Then, as fast as she could, she slipped behind the rocks and readied the Bootzooka in her hands.

She took a breath. This was for Ace, in case he had been sacrificed to this monstrosity by those mental pigmies.

Marcei poked around the side of the rock and fired the weapon multiple times, sending an explosive barrage of something or other towards Volcanoth. They went off with ear-splitting explosions and the turtle gave out a roar that was just as loud. Marcei ducked back into her hiding place just as a column of fire shot where she had been only moments before. Once it stopped, she leaned around again, firing just as rapidly. One of the missiles spiralled off towards the roof, hitting a stalactite on the ceiling and sending it crashing down on the turtle. That apparently did some damage too, as the "god" let out another anguished bellow. Marcei hid behind her rock again, as Volcanoth fired once more. A few more shots should do it, she decided. She was going to roast in here otherwise. She took a breath. Okay, one last shot. She wasn't sure the Bootzooka was going to hold up much longer. It was crackling and sparking.

For the final time, Marcei leapt out from her hiding place and fired repeatedly, the barrage overwhelming the turtle and the explosions making Marcei's ears hurt. But it worked. With one final, weak cry, Volcanoth crumpled and lay, unmoving.

The volcano trembled violently and Marcei tumbled backwards, her head smacking into the wall of the tunnel. With a groan, she straightened up to see a plane zooming into the cavern from another entrance. There were cracking noises as rocks broke from the walls and hit the floor of the cave. Marcei could just hear Sassy's voice over the chaos.

'Marcei, come on! Get over here!'

Not even stopping to hesitate, Marcei sprinted over to the hovering aircraft and stood just below it.

'I managed to get everyone else safely back to town!' Sassy called. 'Jump in, we gotta get out of here before the volcano blows for good! We'll make a flyby of the town, and then I'm gonna get you to some old friends!'

Marcei grabbed onto the rope ladder that was dangling from the plane and hauled herself up. The plane zoomed away and out another entrance on the other side of the volcano. Loud rumbles shook the whole island, and Marcei could tell it was already exploding. At the end of the tunnel, she could see fireballs shooting through the air and into the jungle below.

With a loud 'YEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAA' Marcei could just hear over the din, Sassy shot the plane out of the volcano and straight towards the Town-In-A-Box, which was completely overrun by lava. Sassy turned the plane, and instead they went towards the Wild Overlook, which was relatively unharmed. Everything else was either burning or completely gone, and the air around them was a hazy red. Marcei surveyed the wreckage around them in shock, completely lost for words.

'Get in the back seat,' Sassy called. 'We're getting out of here. I know where the orcs are.'

Marcei felt herself relax slightly in relief. She made her way up the precariously swinging ladder and pulled herself into the back seat, tumbling in awkwardly.

'First Kezan and now here,' Sassy said. 'We are toast if we don't find a way off of this island soon.' Marcei agreed.

The plane finally touched down in the Wild Overlook, where the orcs were waiting. Marcei climbed out of the plane and ran to Thrall, desperately wanting news.

'I told you we would meet again, Marcei.' He gave her an appraising look. 'Unfortunate that it's under such dire circumstances.'

'Where are the others?' she asked anxiously. She couldn't see Izzy anywhere, or any of the other goblins for that matter.

'Your friends were all taken prisoner by Trade Prince Gallywix while the volcano was exploding,' Thrall said grimly. 'We are going to have to deal with the Alliance quickly if we're to rescue them and get off of this island.'

Marcei choked. _Izzy_. She took a shaky breath. That bastard was trying to take away _everything_ she had.

'The Alliance have caught back up with us at just the wrong moment, my friend,' Thrall said. 'We took care of their ships, but they still have plans that are dropping their vaunted 127th Mountaineers onto the coast below. It's all that the battlesworn and scouts can do to hold the two ramps against their overwhelming numbers. I'm certain that if you were to aid them, the tide would be quickly turned.' Marcei nodded, and looking satisfied, Thrall turned to another orc, instantly becoming engaged in dire conversation.

Sassy had been looking over the edge of the cliff, and was coming back to her. 'The paratroopers have mined the beach!' she said indignantly. 'The Warchief asked me if there's anything we can do about that before I came to get you. I told him, 'You bet we can!'. I was thinking maybe you could take this satchel of grenades and detonate the land mines from a safe distance.' She passed Marcei a small bag and grinned slightly. 'It's how we do things, right?' Marcei nodded and took the bag, peering over Sassy's shoulder. Aggra was kneeling beside a row of dead battlesworn, her back to the group. Marcei excused herself and made her way over. As she approached, Aggra looked up.

'These orcs were murdered in cold-blood by the Alliance down on the coast. We did nothing to provoke them.'

Marcei made a small "o" with her mouth and knelt down beside the orc.

'Their deaths should not be in vain, Marcei. Will you bring them to justice?' Aggra appeared as though she could barely contain her rage. Not wishing to incite it, Marcei nodded.

'There are three SI:7 leaders down there along the beach. Bring me their heads.'

They were simple orders. Marcei felt they would be simple enough to carry out. Bowing her head slightly in respect, she got back to her feet before turning to Sassy and lifting the bag of grenades, showing she was going down into the battle zone.

The path down to the beach ran down a slope that was heavily guarded at the base. Battlesworn and Alliance paratroopers were engaged in heavy combat, as more and more of the latter joined the battle. Marcei ran down to aid the orcs, pulling out her shotgun and killing off as many as she could before she had to replace the bullets. That, however, was all the advantage that was needed. The Alliance were quickly swarmed over by the battlesworn and the battle was finally taking a turn for the better. Marcei ran past them and onto the beach, now onto the next stage of her escapade. She stopped only to pull one grenade out of the satchel, inspecting it momentarily. Satisfied that is wasn't a wack-job in any way, she set along the beach, towards a tent a good two hundred yards away, also keeping her eye out for mines.

They weren't too hard to see. They were a round, grey disk shape, with a grey rod poking out from the top, and a flashing red light to cap it all off. Gnomes really weren't that smart. With a slight grin, Marcei pulled the pin from the grenade in her hand and chucked it. The mine went off with an explosion that made her step back slightly, but she felt a sense of dominance all the same. This was mine disposal, the goblin way.

Psh. Who needs gnomes, anyway?

Marcei made a beeline to the tent, which probably belonged to one of the commanders. Her suspicion was confirmed when a man with longish, light brown hair emerged, dressed quite like he had a sense of his own importance.

She didn't give him the time to think. Three shots and he was dead, and one revoltingly nasty knife job later, Marcei had a crudely hacked off head in her grip. She pretty much lost most of her stomach doing that. Really, she might be brutal, but that didn't mean she chopped off heads for a living. That was a little different.

And she had two more to get.

Restraining herself from wanting to throw up again, Marcei pivoted around a hundred and eighty degrees and headed north along the coast line, still looking for the other tents.

A good distance further down the shore, Marcei finally spotted a second tent, its owner on the prowl outside of it. And when she meant "on the prowl" she mean literally. This commander was a worgen.

Marcei felt slightly more worried now. She knew about these guys. She knew they could rip her to shreds, and, well, that wasn't something she really wanted to happen.

Shotgun time.

She really should have been quicker about it this time around, but the worgen pounced before she could pull her thoughts together. It was a good thing that shooting didn't really require thinking when it came to her.

But she could have shot it earlier, because, as of that moment, she was now crushed under a dead and _very_ heavy worgen. Not nice.

Marcei grunted and tried to shove the corpse off her, which was proving to be very difficult. She was better off wriggling out from under it.

Scrabbling at the sand with her hands, Marcei crawled out from under the worgen and got unsteadily to her feet, feeling pretty irritated. She turned back to the corpse, looking it its head, her bloodied knife in one hand. She sighed. Decapitation time.

As she went on her way again, another head added to her collection, Marcei felt considerably relieved there was only one to go. Doing this was taking a serious toll on her mental health. Yeah, she knew she should toughen up with it came to that. It was _just_ some severed heads. Those pigmy witchdoctors put heads on spikes for their home décor! And besides, she was probably going to do worse things in her life. Like, ripping out hearts or something.

At that thought she swore. She'd probably just jinxed herself, now.

Though, she started to think that her luck was getting pretty bad when she was the last commander was a night elf. Especially when she was spotted instantly. The elf drew her bow and aimed at Marcei, who swore and ducked for cover behind her tent. An arrow shot past her head, just missing her. Marcei poked her head around the canvas and fired multiple bullet at her target, and surprisingly enough, they hit. The elf crumpled, and feeling considerably relieved, Marcei made her way over to the body.

* * *

The only good thing that came out of all of that was that Aggra was grateful to the service Marcei had done for the fallen. Passing off the heads to someone else wasn't too bad, either. All the same, Marcei would rather have done the other jobs ten times over.

Sassy was overly proud of the job she had done when blowing up the mines.

'Score one for the goblins!' she cheered, grinning broadly. 'Stupid dwarves and gnomes.'

Her gaze then travelled to the sky above the beach, and she groaned audibly.

'What?' Marcei asked, turning around to look. Planes were flying around above the shore, dropping parachuters into the battle below.

'This is ridiculous!' Sassy complained. 'The gnomes just don't know when to stop! Goblin _pride_ is on the line here! Marcei, you gotta jump into our plane and show them what's what!'

Marcei took another look up at the battlefield and nodded, before making her way over to the plane Sassy had piloted not long ago. Sassy pressed the keys in her hand and gave her a look so serious, Marcei almost burst out laughing. Sassy rolled her eyes. 'Get going, you.'

Marcei pulled herself up into the plane and stuck in the keys. The aircraft rumbled to life, and Marcei felt herself grin. Time to shoot down some gnomes.

Without further ado, she pushed down a pedal and took to the skies.

* * *

Going rampant with a machine gun mounted atop a plane? Why the _hell_ didn't Marcei think of that sooner? Heck, this was the best fun she'd had all day, though, in all honesty, that wasn't saying much. But still, the homicidal side in her was being brought out to its full extent, and it would take a while to put it back where it came from.

With a euphoric screech, Marcei shot straight upwards like a bullet, before nosediving and firing at Gnomeregan fighter planes, laughing manically when they blew up. Really, it was like someone had given her drugs and let her loose in a box of dynamite. Meaning she was destructive.

She constantly swerved to avoid the fire from the other planes, still shooting like a maniac. The number of planes she sent either spiralling or blowing up was almost uncountable.

When it reached the point where she looked around and didn't see anything, Marcei couldn't help feeling disappointed. It was over already? Damn. So, grudgingly, she brought the plane back to the ground, before hopping out, catching her foot on a panel, and tumbling onto her face. With a slight groan, she got to her feet and dusted herself off.

'YES!' Sassy came running over to her and bounced around in glee, grinning broadly. 'I freaking _saw_ that, girl; that was some crazy flying!'

Marcei laughed.

'True to his word, Thrall is going to get us going in the right direction to rescue our people,' Sassy said, the grin never leaving her face. 'He asked to speak with you.'

The hyper mood she had starting to wear off, Marcei nodded. Sassy stuck out her hand, which she shook. 'Good luck, Marcei. We're all depending on you.'

* * *

'Once again you have helped us to overcome our mutual enemy, the Alliance.' Thrall took a steady breath, giving her an appraising look. 'Now it is time for us to help you. Head back down to the coast and tell Kilag that I'd like for you to borrow Bastia. The sabre knows the way to where your friends are being held captive. Go now. I will see you again before we make our move against the Trade Prince.'

Marcei chewed her lip, giving a slight nod. 'Okay.' She turned away and ran down the slope to the beach, where a considerably smaller battle was still taking place at the bottom. Kilag and Bastia were down there, overseeing it.

'Kilag!' Marcei shouted, stumbling over her own feet in her haste. The orc looked up, and watched her down the slope until she reached him.

'Can I borrow Bastia?' she asked. 'The Warchief said that she knew the way.'

Kilag smiled. 'Of course you can borrow Bastia. That is, if she'll take you.' He winked.

Marcei stretched her hand out to the dark blue nightsabre, and almost jumped backwards when Bastia bumped her head against it affectionately. Marcei blinked. She hadn't been expecting that.

For the second time without warning, Kilag picked her up and dumped her on the sabre's back, before leaning over slightly and whispering something in her ear.

'Bastia will make sure that you get where you need to be, goblin.'

As he straightened back up, Bastia started running - into a clearing lightly scattered with trees and up a slope. The battle and the beach disappeared from view very quickly. The path the cat took changed direction so frequently that Marcei didn't bother keeping track.

Once they reached a bamboo bridge, Marcei started to get the inclination that they were nearly there. Running down the side of what was part of the volcano, several thin waterfalls poured into the river below them. Bastia came bounding up to a cave entrance with a handful of goblins out the front, and Marcei knew she was at the right place. She slid off the cat's back as Slinky Sharpshiv came running over to her.

'_Marcei?_' She paused and watched Bastia with a wary eye. 'Nice kitty.' Her gaze snapped back up to Marcei, the look in her eyes urgent. 'Look we don't have much time here. You might have noticed that the volcano is blowing?'

Marcei nodded, looking around. The only others that were here were Evol, Maxx, Beastblast Babblesnaff (don't ask), Bamm, Warrior-Matic NX-01 and Sister Goldskimmer. 'Where are-?'

'We barely escaped with our hides intact!' Slinky said, cutting over her. 'The Trade Prince has a whole bunch of us enslaved and performing manual labour inside the cave. He's calling it the "Gallywix Reeducation Cavern." Greely helped the seven of us to get out, but she was recaptured in the process. Marcei, you're the only one crazy enough to walk into an exploding volcano! Greely will be able to help you free the others.' She bit her lip anxiously. 'Okay. We're going to move _away _from the exploding volcano and try to hook up with the orcs for the final assault on the Trade Prince. See you on the other side . . . I hope.'

'Lucky you,' Marcei said dryly.

'Hurry! This place is about to blow for good!'

Marcei took a sharp breath and looked at the mine entrance, before leaving Slinky behind with Bastia and sprinting inside.

* * *

For a mine that had probably been in use for less than a day, a lot had been set up. There were basic supports, bamboo mine carts, and machines everywhere. Also, lots and lots of some new expansion of Kaja'Cola. Kaja'Cola Zero One? _Seriously?_

But the main problem?

Hobgoblins/mooks/whatever Gallywix likes to call them. They were on guard, everywhere. Sure, they were easy enough to take out with a shotgun, but it was still a _lot_ of the brutes.

Trusting her luck, Marcei took out a brute and followed the first right when she reached a cavern, before taking a ramp down to the second level of the mine. She did a lot of killing. Hoping she was going in the right direction, she went right again.

She finally found Greely after killing the guard that was watching her. Marcei punched the goblin in the shoulder and hissed her name. 'Greely!'

Greely looked up, blinking confusedly. 'Huh . . . what? Who?'

She was clearly bewildered. Marcei groaned. How was she going to help her find a way to rescue everyone in this condition?

Marcei looked around, her eyes landing on a can of Kaja'Cola. Maybe . . .

Marcei grabbed the can and turned back to Greely, brandishing it in front of her face. Greely spotted it, and her blank eyes seemed to come to life.

'Take it!' Marcei demanded, shoving the drink at her. Hesitantly, Greely popped open the can and downed the lot in a matter of seconds.

It was like she'd been given caffeine. Her eyes went wide and clear, and she started to shout 'I'VE GOT AN IDEA!' before Marcei put her hands over her mouth, not wanting to give them away.

Beaming excitedly, Greely pulled her hands away. 'You've got to get all the Kaja'Cola Zero-One that you can and make the goblins drink it to boost their morale and free them!'

Marcei paused. 'That's _genius!_' she whispered. '_Genius!_'

She whirled around and scooped up all of the nearby cans, holding as many as she could. Greely did the same, and they both left their small part of the mine system, running through and shoving cans at all of the brainwashed goblins they came across. When they ran out, they collected some more, as the Kaja'Cola seemed to be everywhere.

'Have you seen Izzy?' Marcei asked as they made their way through. Greely nodded.

'They had a job of bringing her in. She's strong and she's got the mouth of a sailor!'

Marcei laughed slightly. 'Yeah, I know.'

They turned into a room-shaped part of the cave, and Marcei shot another brute before they went to begin another round of distribution. Over against one wall, there was a big machine that was letting out lots of smoke. Someone was hard at work fixing it, and despite them being covered in grime, it was impossible not to notice the blonde head of hair.

Marcei's heart stopped.

* * *

**Please review! :D  
**


	22. To Make It To The End

**This is the last chapter**, **guys. And it's extra large, because it's the last one.  
FYI, I didn't follow the actual layout for the mine or the dock, or anything like that. It was too much of a bother to remember.**  
**If there's any time for reviews, it's right now, because this is the end.**

* * *

_**Chapter 22**_

She didn't go about this very politely. Grabbing the nearest can of Kaja'Cola from Greely, she shook it up, popped the top and smashed it in his face.

He coughed and spluttered, standing up hurriedly and whirling around, most likely inhaling the majority of it. 'What the - ?'

It obviously worked. Ace wiped the Kaja'Cola from his face with his hands, swearing profusely.

The next thing Marcei knew, she had barrelled into him, hugging him tightly around the middle and burying her face in his chest.

'What?' Ace asked confusedly, clearly baffled that she hadn't fled the moment she saw him.

It was like his voice was a trigger. She couldn't help herself. Right then, she burst into tears, still refusing to let go.

'I – uh, Marce - ?'

'You complete and utter _arse!_' Marcei screeched, pushing off him and taking a step back, tears still splashing down her face. She let out a choked sob and hugged him again.

'I know, I –'

'You freaking _ditched_ me, and – and then you think it's okay to disappear a-and I thought you were _dead!_ Or a zombie!'

He obviously hadn't been expecting this. '_Dead?_ No, silly, I've –'

'Just – just shut up!' she choked out again, her face back in the comfortable material of his shirt. 'You weren't allowed to do that. You weren't allowed to disappear on me!'

'Sorry,' he murmured guiltily, burying his face in her hair. He sighed slightly. 'I know. I'm a complete git, and I deserve everything that comes to me. Though, to be fair, being brainwashed was pretty harsh.'

'Not my fault,' Marcei muttered.

'Guys?' Greely's voice broke through, and both of their heads snapped up. 'I know this is a bit of a sentimental moment and all, but we need to find Izzy.'

Marcei nodded and wiped her eyes, which were probably really red by now. With a sigh, she broke off from Ace, and before she forgot, slapped him across the face.

'Ow!'

'Don't say you didn't deserve that!'

Ace gave a bit a weak laugh, and rubbed the red mark on his face. 'Okay. I won't.'

Marcei turned back to Greely. 'Let's find Izzy.'

Greely nodded and restocked her supply of Kaja'Cola, piling the cans up in her arms.

'Have you seen her?' Marcei asked, turning around and looking up at Ace, who was still right behind her.

'I actually _have_,' he said, sounding surprised himself. He thought for a moment, then led them out of that part of the mine and into the main system, looking left and right, before choosing right.

Almost instantly, they ran into a problem.

'Uh oh,' Greely breathed. 'I forgot about this guy.'

A goblin dressed in purple robes halted in surprise when he saw them. 'What?' he said when his eyes set on Marcei. 'You're not supposed to be here. You're dead!'

'Uh, _no I'm not_,' Marcei snapped, pulling out her shotgun. 'But you're going to be!'

The goblin regained his composure and snarled, the staff he was carrying starting to glow. Marcei got the hint and ducked out of the way when black flames shot where she had been half a second before. She went to shoot, but before she even did anything, the warlock crumpled, a knife blade sticking out of his chest. Ace came from behind him and casually unstuck him.

Marcei blinked.

Greely pushed past her and began rummaging through the warlock's possessions. Marcei wanted to ask what she was doing, but before she did, Greely stood up, a purple orb in her hands. A black sort of substance swirled around in it. She smashed it on the warlock's corpse, and the body disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. 'We're not a part of your system!' she yelled.

'Uh, wha - ?' Marcei started.

'He's a warlock,' Greely said, cutting over her. 'If I didn't destroy his soulstone, he would have resurrected.'

Marcei gave a "fair point" sort of nod and looked back at Ace, who turned around and started running along the mine system again. Both Greely and Marcei followed him.

The path opened into a large cavern, a pool of shimmering water taking up most of the ground space. Ace turned and beckoned them on, running into a tunnel leading off that.

A few seconds later, there was a shout of 'FOUND HER!' and Marcei and Greely ran to the source of the yelling, before skidding into another area. Ace was standing beside Izzy, who was sorting stacks of dynamite and fireworks in a rhythmic, drugged way. Marcei ran over to her and looked her in the eyes. She seemed just as confused and intimidated as Greely had. Marcei shoved a can of Kaja'Cola at her with an impatient 'drink it!' and Izzy snapped out of her slight stupor, taking the can and downing it. Her eyes cleared, and she grinned, a spontaneous idea (side effect of Kaja'Cola) coming to her.

'Electrical wires used to send messages over great distances . . . no, impractical. Giant rockets, with speakers attached . . .'

Marcei nearly cried with relief.

'Oh, _damn_, you're okay!'

Izzy then stood up, coming out of her own world and looking around confusedly. 'He put me to work in a _mine?_' She began swearing and ranting loudly, and Marcei punched her lightly on the arm. 'We've gotta go.'

Izzy gave the wall a heavy glare and nodded grudgingly, before turning and spotting Ace. She did a momentary double take, before a look of absolute fury set on her face.

'You _bastard!_' she screeched, smacking him across the face like Marcei had done. 'Where the bloody hell did you go?'

Ace raised both of his hands defensively, ignoring the second red mark on his cheek. 'Later, Iz, later. Marcei's right, we've need to get out of here. I know where an exit is. We should be able to use one of the mine carts for a ride down the side of the volcano.'

'Lead the way, Mr Navigator.'

* * *

'Grunt.'

'_Gobber?'_

'Grunt.'

'Ah, what the hell. Come on!'

* * *

'It looks rickety,' Marcei commented, tapping the bamboo mine cart and watching it suspiciously.

'Well, it's all we have,' Greely said. 'In!'

She gave Marcei a shove, and she tumbled into the cart. Marcei yelped as she fell in an uncomfortable position, and glared reproachfully at Greely as she readjusted herself. Before she could do so, the others had climbed in, making moving space unavailable. Obviously noticing this, Ace pulled Marcei onto his lap.

'Hey!' she said indignantly.

Ace shook his head. 'You've got no choice. This cart's too damn small.'

Marcei crossed her arms and pulled a face.

'Oh, stop sulking,' he laughed.

Using a long pole, Greely pushed the mine cart along the rails and down the mountain slope, before gravity kicked in and it started going down itself.

The cart sped down the slope, and halfway down, Marcei saw that the track was broken at one point, that part of it curving up into a ramp. Before she even had time to think about it, the cart shot into the air, before landing with a heavy _thump_ further down the track. They hurtled at high velocity straight towards the end of the track at the bottom, slamming right into some crates of explosives.

Miraculously, incredibly, _thankfully_, nothing exploded. Marcei had been cringing without even realising it, and when she stopped tensing, she was aware she was alive. She did a mental cheer, to say in the least.

They were attacked instantly. Shredders – Marcei thought she'd _never_ see those again – Steemwheedle Sharks, to be exact, were evidently waiting for someone to come down the track. Marcei tumbled out of the mine cart and leapt straight on one, grabbing her knife and stabbing it repeatedly into the machine's circuits. The shredder crackled, and then shut down, and she finished the job by plunging her knife into neck of the goblin controlling it. Marcei slid off the shredder and turned to everyone else, who were engaged in their own battles. She went to help them out, until all of the machines had been dealt with.

'As we would say in the Tinker's Union,' Greely said, dusting off her hands, 'out of the heat-applied metallic cooking container and into the oxidising, energetic mixture of reacting gases and solids!'

Marcei blinked. 'That made no sense whatsoever.'

The ground trembled, and they both nearly fell over. It stopped soon after, and everyone looked around, slightly confused.

She took that opportunity to finally take in her surroundings. They were in a sort of lumberyard, probably courtesy of the Trade Prince. She had a feeling that the git was actually building another boat to get off the island.

The oil platform (stolen from the Town-In-A-Box. Of _course_.) that was sitting on stumps over the water was huge to say in the least. On the grassy land where they were, wagons and barrels were sitting all over the place. Other shredders clunked around, their goblin drivers going about their jobs.

There was a tap on Marcei's shoulder, and she whirled around, startled. Coach had turned up.

'Look, kid, I'm here to see to it that you've got a fighting chance at the end game. Thrall's going to need your help in the fight against the Trade Prince.'

'Wh-what?' Marcei frowned. 'What _are_ you on about?'

'Greely, Hobart and I have a plan to put together the ultimate footbomb uniform for you so that you can win the game, but I'm going to need some things first.' He took a breath, a look of satisfaction starting to unfurl on his face. He was finally back in his area of expertise. Screw pigmies, this guy did footbomb. 'Lucky for us, this lumber yard is sick with spare shredder parts. Now get out there and give me a hundred and ten percent!'

Marcei did a sort of half-salute, starting to grin herself. 'Yessir!'

'That's my girl.'

Marcei turned back to the lumberyard, instantly spotting broken down shredders all over the place. She just had to disassemble them and take the good bits, leaving behind the unnecessary junk. Easy enough.

* * *

'Ah, bugger!' Marcei yelped as a huge battery slipped out of her grip, and her fingers were caught between it and some old, metal plating.

Overall, she had done a pretty good job on locating shredder parts, coming away only with a sliced shoulder (a saw blade on a shredder arm had come a little too close for comfort).

'Yeah, these will do nicely,' Coach said, coming up behind her and inspecting a power core. 'You did good, kid. I'll see to it that you get the best footbomb uniform ever made. In the meantime, you've got other bombs to drop on the Trade Prince's lackeys.'

'Meaning?'

'We have to stop Trade Prince Gallywix's oil supply and bring his machines to a grinding halt,' Greely announced, coming up beside her. 'We're going to need you to go out to the KTC oil platform and release the valves to overload the coolant system. After you do that, head to the platform control panel and set it to blow.'

Marcei blinked, slightly surprised by the upfrontness of it all. 'Okay, then.'

* * *

Izzy pulled Marcei aside, a look on her face that made her worry slightly.

'What?' she asked cautiously, when they were out of earshot.

'Oh, girl,' Izzy said. 'You're never going to guess who's over there on the oil platform.'

Marcei frowned slightly. 'Who?'

Izzy shook her head sadly. 'Chip's over there, and he's working for the Trade Prince.' She folded her arms, a look of anger overcrossing her current expression. 'He dropped you like a bad habit and now he's working for the other team! _And _he's going out with that tramp, Candy Cane!'

Marcei winced as the concepts resurfaced in her mind. They still stung. A lot.

'I don't know about you,' Izzy said, quieting slightly, 'but if he was my ex, I'd rip his still-beating heart out of his chest.'

Marcei's breathing hitched in her throat. '_What?_'

'What would _you_ decide?'

'I . . . I . . .'

Izzy put a hand on either of her shoulders, steadying her. 'You can't let him walk all over you like that.'

Marcei shook her head mutely and took a step back, her hand unconsciously searching for her knife.

After a moment, she found her voice again, which was slightly hoarse. 'I'm going to . . . find him.'

Izzy gave a satisfied nod. 'Go get his heart, girl!'

Marcei really wished it was simpler than that.

* * *

Valve one, check. Valve two, check. Valve three, check. Valve four, just around the corner.

Marcei had made it onto the oil platform without too much difficulty, only encountering a handful of Gallywix's oil bots. They didn't last too long though, so that was good. She had kept her eye out for Chip, but hadn't found him yet. Maybe that was good, or maybe it wasn't. She really didn't know.

'. . . and I ain't getting paid to chat, so move it!'

Marcei froze, her back pressed up flat against a wooden cabin. She could recognise that voice anywhere.

A shredder clunked away from the voice and past where Marcei was, not even noticing her. When it disappeared from sight, Marcei poked her head around the cabin, looking out onto the expanse of platform.

Just outside of another cabin, Chip was standing impatiently, arms crossed and tapping one foot against the wooden floor. Marcei went to step out, but she noticed the last valve right above her head, and went to turn it. Then she made her way into the open, her knife held firmly in her hand.

Chip looked up at the sound of her footsteps, freezing when he saw her.

'What – I – _babe!_' he tried weakly, stretching out his arms in an invitation for a hug.

Marcei didn't answer, though her eyes narrowed and she kept on advancing. Chip eyed her knife, and steadily grew more and more worried. 'Look, can't we talk about this –'

'Talk about _what?_' Marcei asked shrilly, not stopping. 'How you _dumped_ me when I needed you the most, how you betrayed me, I bet you even _cheated_ while you were at it –'

'Be my girlfriend again! Then we can fix things up! Look, I can ditch Candy, and you can work for the Trade Prince with me -'

'_Work for the Trade Prince?_ Don't make me laugh! He wants me dead! And _you_ were quite happy to go with that! You never gave a damn! It doesn't matter now! Ace told me what was going on. You're _never_ getting a place in my life _again!_'

'_Ace?_' Chip swore. 'What did he tell you? He's lying! He just wanted to get me out of the way so he could date you!'

Marcei's expression hardened, and Chip gulped. 'You leave Ace out of this. It's your own bloody fault you told him all of that!'

'No I didn't!' he lied, stepping back hastily. 'He – he made it up!'

'That doesn't change what you did!'

'Look, I was acting, you see! I _wanted_ to help you, but -'

'Oh _sure_. You _wanted_ to help. Could've, should've, _didn't_! You didn't do anything! You just stood by with that cow, Candy, and watched on. Even later, you didn't lift a finger to help!'

In a final, desperate attempt, Chip grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. Marcei's brain practically short circuited, and everything went blank. She couldn't think, she couldn't see, she didn't know what to do. Unconsciously, one arm went around the back of his neck, and then everything seemed to snap back to reality.

She made a noise of revulsion in the back of her throat. Her other hand tightened on her knife, and she swiftly brought it up, plunging it into his stomach.

Marcei wrenched herself away from him as he choked, and put her mouth close to his ear.

'_Die_, you bastard,' she hissed.

As his eyes started glazing over, Chip managed one last look of horror. 'I can't believe you'd do this to me,' he muttered. He looked down at the blood spurting from his gut, and shook his head slightly.

Marcei regained her grip on her bloodied weapon and stuck it into his chest. Chip Endale crumpled, dead and unmoving.

* * *

She didn't care that she blew up the oil refinery. She didn't care that she left a path of destruction in her wake. She didn't care that she was completely covered in blood. She did care that she had a still-beating heart clutched in her hand, that was empty, just like every promise he made. She did care that it was Chip's. She did care that she had been the one to kill him.

Marcei ran from the refinery as it exploded and sent shrapnel everywhere, a chunk narrowly avoiding her. She hadn't noticed that her face was stained with tears. She hadn't noticed that she had started crying to begin with. Chip wasn't supposed to be worth it.

'Marcei!' Izzy appeared out of nowhere as she got back to the lumberyard. She paused as she spotted the heart in Marcei's hand, and her expression became indescribable.

'He got just what he deserved,' she said softly. Marcei started shaking with sobs, now unable to restrain herself. Izzy pulled her into a hug. 'There there, don't cry. You'll find someone else that'll treat you right.'

She worked the heart out of Marcei's iron grip. 'Here, let me take that . . .'

Not even really thinking, Marcei handed it over, releasing her hold on it.

'We wouldn't want people to think that you're crazy,' Izzy explained, grimacing at the sight of it in her hand. She passed it off to an unsuspecting Ace that had just come up behind her, who made a disgusted noise and tossed it into a nearby clump of ferns. Izzy wiped the blood off her hands and onto her shorts, now looking at Ace. 'What news?'

'Greely wanted to talk to Marcei but . . . what happened?' he prodded, looking inquiringly at the latter. Marcei had stopped crying by that point, but her face was still a mess. Izzy shook her head warningly. Ace looked at his hands that had been smeared with blood from the heart, then the ferns, then the remains of the refinery, then at Marcei. Everything seemed to click. 'Oh.'

'It doesn't matter anymore,' Marcei muttered, her voice slightly thick. Her head felt heavy and she was tired.

Ace narrowed his eyes. 'I think it _does_. If –'

'Ace!' Marcei snapped. This last week alone had been the most hectic of her life, and she was reaching the end of her straw. 'Just _stop. _Please.'

He paused, still looking like he wanted answers, but grudgingly, he turned around and walked off.

Izzy gave a slow exhale. 'Right,' she said. 'Come on, let's go find Greely.'

* * *

'Sassy's over at the slave pits,' Greely said. 'She's there with some orcs getting ready to launch an attack on the Trade Prince. Marcei, take the footbomb uniform up the road to the southwest and find her. I know she's going to want you to lead the charge.'

She stopped talking and pulled a face.

'Ack, I'm starting to talk like the coach now!'

Marcei couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Marcei guided the giant, mechanical footbomb uniform southeast, through the jungle shrubbery. She found Sassy, Megs and Brett on a small hill overlooking some wooden structures on the sandy ground down below. There were fences, cages, and wooden pits. Pirates (mercenaries?) prowled the area, obviously on patrol.

'I was wondering where you were!' Sassy said, pulling Marcei down from the uniform and hugging her, completely disregarding the messy state she was in. 'Don't worry, Hobart will get that footbomb uniform converted into the most Ultimate Footbomb Uniform ever.'

'Agreed,' Grapplehammer said, coming out of nowhere. Marcei hadn't noticed him before. 'But in the meantime, we really don't have time to rescue those that are incompetent enough to get themselves captured over and over. Still, since I have some extra rockets leftover, this problem should be a snap.' He passed a handful of rockets at Marcei. 'Take these single-stage booster rockets down into the slave pits and put them on the cages. The cage will lift off into orbit and those idiots will be freed.'

Marcei paused. '_Slave pits?_'

'Yeah. Gallywix isn't too original, is he? Slave this, slave that, yada yada yada. He really should change it up sometime.'

Sassy, who had just been talking to another goblin, ran over to them, bursting with news judging by the look on her face.

'Can you believe that Candy Cane!' she exclaimed. 'You know, up until you "dealt" with Chip –'

Marcei groaned. Apparently word had travelled fast about that.

'- she was dating him. Now she's going out with Gallywix!'

Sassy paused to let that sink in, and Marcei felt like she was going to vomit. _Gross._

'I just can't get over the fact that she betrayed you like that with your ex. Maybe you should go and take care of her once and for all?'

'She freaking deserves it.'

Sassy nodded as Marcei was already turning to run down to the pits. 'She stole your man, girlfriend! You know what you gotta do!'

It was time to take out the trash.

* * *

Rockets plus cages equals goblins shot into orbit. Wasn't that obvious? It was still fun to do, all the same.

Marcei killed pirate mercenaries (just as fun as it sounds) and completely disregarded the keys they carried on them. She didn't need no stinkin' keys. She had rockets. Tons more effective.

Marcei got a lot of comments as she strapped rockets to the cages. Like: 'What are these rockets for?', 'Um . . . you do realize that there's a bottom to this cage?', 'The pirates have keys!' and her favourite, 'Marcei, you and Hobart are going to be the death of me!'

Now she was on a Candy hunt. She was a wild, crazy, psychotic ex-girlfriend. And wild, crazy, psychotic ex-girlfriends were generally out for blood. Marcei was no different.

At the other end of the slave pits, there was a small, grassy rise with a sloping path up to it that curved around. The perimeter around it was fenced. Marcei killed the two mercenaries that were guarding it, and ran up the slope.

In the ground in the middle of the rise were wooden bars, revealing a pit down below. Yelling came from it. And sitting on a roughly crafted beach chair, was Candy Cane. She didn't really notice as Marcei approached her, avoiding the pit. It was only when Marcei drew her knife and it made a noise, that she looked up. Her eyes set on the weapon immediately.

'But, sweetie . . .?' she started, looking confused and uncertain.

'Don't "sweetie" me!' Marcei snapped.

Candy eyed Marcei's bloodstained hands, realisation coming to her as a lock of blonde hair tumbled in her face. She swept it away, looking at Marcei with an expression of horror.

'_You_ killed Chip, not twenty minutes ago!'

'You were _dating_ Chip not twenty minutes ago!'

Candy pulled a face. 'So?'

'So doesn't that _mean_ anything to you?'

She shrugged nonchalantly. 'I found someone who's richer. He'll be better at satisfying my shopping needs when we get to Azshara. Not that you'll live long enough to get there.'

'So you didn't even care about him?' Marcei prodded, anger growing in her chest. 'Not even a bit?'

'He was expendable.'

Marcei snarled. 'You _bitch!_'

'You can never replace me,' Candy said, sliding off her chair and grabbing a knife that was wedged into a nearby post. 'Chip will never stoop to dating someone who makes a brute look attractive!'

'But he's dead! What can you do about it, huh? Nothing!'

'You're just jealous I found a man with skills _and_ a fat wallet!' Candy shrieked. 'Who've you managed to find, huh? That Ace guy? Heck, talk about low standards!'

That comment hit home. _Really hard. 'Low standards?'_

'Yes,' Candy said, clearly relishing the concept. '_Extremely_ low standards.'

Marcei lashed out, landing a nice, deep cut on Candy's "pretty" face. She shrieked, bringing a hand up to the damage. 'You told him I was fat behind my back, _didn't you?'_ she wailed.

'What?' Marcei was confused. The girl was obviously going delirious. But that was evidently the distraction she needed. Candy dove at her, her knife held out in front of her. Marcei moved half a second too late, and ended up with a nasty slice on the side of her ribcage. She hissed in pain.

'How can you even go _out _like that?' Candy taunted, drawing back and circling around her. 'What, did you just wash up on a beach somewhere?'

'I _did_ actually, genius!' Marcei snapped back. 'We all did! But you should seriously see the mess you are at the moment!' She knew which cards to play now. Just have a bit of a poke about her looks, and Candy would flip.

'_Mess?'_ she cried, her eyes wild. 'I'm not a mess! I'm perfect!'

'No you're not!' Marcei shot back, trying not to grin. 'Those shoes and that top? Totally _not_ pulling off the "shipwrecked but still good looking" style, hon. You look like you've had a run in with a group of sharks!'

Candy screeched, and Marcei took that opening to leap forward and slit her throat. The screech died rather quickly as Candy hit the ground with a heavy thump, blood quickly pooling around her. Marcei sighed with relief.

'Marcei!'

Jumping slightly in surprise, she whirled around to look down into the pit below her. Almost all of the KTC crew was down there.

'I'm proud of you, girl!' Slinky said, looking up at her and grinning. 'Fantastic way to kill someone!'

The others eyed Slinky warily.

'I've gotta bust you out,' Marcei said, looking around for any way of destroying the bars. Slinky shook her head.

'No, Sassy's going to get us. You need to help with the assault. We'll be alright.'

Marcei hesitated, before getting to her feet and nodding. 'Okay,' she said. 'I'll make sure that Sassy comes.'

'There's my girl.'

* * *

'Oops,' Grapplehammer said, scratching the back of his neck absently. 'Well, what goes up must eventually come down.'

Marcei shrugged. 'There's a way of putting it.'

'Marcei, this is it!' Sassy cried, running over to them. 'Thrall's down at the docks fighting the Trade Prince right now!'

'_What?'_

The ground trembled again, but everyone ignored it.

'You gotta get over there!'

'And this,' Grapplehammer said proudly,' is where my Ultimate Footbomb Uniform comes in.'

'Yeah, alright,' Sassy said impatiently. 'Go, Marcei, go! I've got to get the others out of the pit.'

Grapplehammer pointed to the finished footbomb uniform. 'In!'

Marcei hauled herself up into the machine and looked down at the water, where she could see a huge, expansive dock, with at least two or three levels.

Without further ado, she plunged into what could be her imminent death.

* * *

'I SEE THE TRAITOR IS HERE TO RESCUE YOU, WARCHIEF. HOW CONVENIENT. YOU WILL BOTH BOW TO ME OR FALL TOGETHER!'

Thrall was already heavily involved in an elemental verses giant machine battle. Good thing Marcei was there to add another giant machine to the fray.

Marcei started repeatedly punching buttons on the uniform's control panel, launching a constant barrage of footbombs at Gallywix. They exploded and sent chunks of metal from his machine flying. Gallywix sneered at her.

'You burned down my headquarters, now I'm going to burn down you!'

What?

A small hatch opened in the front of the machine, and a column of fire streamed from it, narrowly missing Marcei as she avoided it. She swore, and in retaliation activated the saw blade on one of the shredders arms. She rammed into him, the nearest leg on his machine turning into metal ribbons. The leg crumpled completely, and the machine went lopsided.

'I like you,' Gallywix said, the sneer never leaving his face. 'Here's a raise!'

He punched a button, and tons upon tons of moolah spilled out of another hatch, coins wedging themselves into joints, restricting movement from the uniform. Marcei growled.

Thrall was fighting Gallywix the same time, and lightning strikes were raining down on the Trade Prince, which hopefully wasn't too good for his health. The yell they got seemed to confirm that.

But no matter what she did, his strength seemed to be endless. All she could hope was that he had to wear down eventually. He _had _to.

Thrall seemed to be calling on all of the elements at once. Wanting to help this, Marcei went forward with another footbomb barrage before shredding another leg. Then, all at once, lightning struck the dock and it caught fire, the flames dancing in a high wall around Gallywix.

That must have been when he realised he was screwed. He wasn't going to win this. At least, not before the volcano blew up.

'Uncle! Uncle! I give!' he yelled dramatically, standing on the top of his quickly crumbling machine. 'You guys are too much for me!'

'I'm beaten,' he announced again (not any less dramatic). 'You've shown me the error of my ways. From here on out, I promise to reform the way that the cartel is run.'

He turned to Thrall, raising his hands and his palms facing outwards. 'I'm your goblin, Thrall. What would you have of me?'

Thrall grunted, evidently thinking on the matter. The elements had quietened down, and had ceased the attack on the Trade Prince. The flames quickly disappeared, leaving the dock remotely unharmed.

'For now,' Thrall started, 'you will remain the Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel.'

Marcei groaned audibly, and she could have sworn Thrall gave her a small smile.

'I will send a representative from amongst your people to the new warchief, Garrosh Hellscream in Orgrimmar. You will have a new home in Azshara and the Bilgewater Cartel will be part of the Horde.'

'It will be as you say!' Gallywix shouted. Marcei was seriously getting sick of his tone. 'Long live the Bilgewater Cartel! For the Horde!'

Sassy came out of nowhere and barrelled straight into Marcei, strangling her with a hug. All of the freed goblins were streaming down from the lumberyard and the slave pits, and to the dock.

'You did it! You did it!' Sassy yelled, grinning broadly. 'We're saved, Marcei!'

Laughing, Marcei hugged her back. 'Well, you know, I try,' she replied over all of the commotion.

'We just can't thank you enough for all that you've done. Now we can all get off of this island before it kills us!'

'Agreed.'

Marcei broke off from Sassy, and turned to find Thrall waiting, smiling slightly. 'Lok'tar! Victory, Marcei!'

'Lok'tar!' she replied, still grinning. Her smile faded slightly though, when she realised that something wasn't right. 'What is it?' she asked.

'For now, we cannot return to Kalimdor,' Thrall said. Marcei felt her spirits deflate slightly. Oh. 'Only Chawg is going back with you.' He gestured to the orc next to him. 'Another ship is coming to take the rest of us on to our destination. The greatest adventure is yet ahead of you, Marcei. Our paths will cross again, and when they do, the fate of the world will be in your hands.'

Marcei blinked. She didn't really like the idea of possessing the fate of the world. Knowing her, she'd trip over a rock and they'd all be screwed.

The goblins that were leaving were crowding onto the boat docked nearby, and from above, the cages that Marcei had launched into space were floating down via parachute, their occupants frozen in blocks of ice. She winced slightly. Oh, well. They'd thaw.

'Marcei!'

A mane of red hair found its way over to her, and Izzy wrapped her up in a hug. 'It's been a long journey to get here, hon,' she muttered. 'Thank you.' She straightened up and grinned. 'Let's get off this island now.'

Marcei nodded, and paused when she spotted someone over her shoulder. 'Ace!' she called. Ace turned and grinned when he saw her. He pushed his way through the crowd and unashamedly hugged her.

'We're Ogrimmar bound, girlie!' he announced, grinning.

'I know,' she responded simply, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips.

They stood, quietly looking at each other for a few moments before Izzy cut in. 'Oh, just hurry up and make out already! We don't have all day. This volcano's gonna blow, you know!'

Ace went bright red while Marcei poked her tongue out at her, and maybe to prove a point, maybe because she was compulsive, or just perhaps for reasons she didn't get, she flung her arms around Ace's neck and kissed him full on the mouth. He made a noise of surprise before responding enthusiastically, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. In the background Marcei could hear Izzy cackling, but she really didn't care.

After what seemed like forever, Marcei finally broke off, and laughed when Ace pulled a face of disappointment. She gave him another teasing peck on the lips, and seeming satisfied with that, he set her feet back on the ground. Izzy started howling with laughter when she wobbled and nearly toppled over because her legs were so shaky.

'Okay,' Marcei managed through a fit of her own giggles. 'We should probably get on this boat now.'

Izzy laughed and slung an arm over each of their shoulders, guiding them onto the boat, which was still filling up. 'Let's go.'

Beaming, Sassy made her way over to them and stopped in front of Marcei.

'Looks like this is it, boss-lady. It's been a real honour.' She stuck out her hand, and Marcei shook it, grinning.

'It's been a pleasure avoiding death with you,' she announced. Sassy snorted.

'Yeah. Pretty lucky, weren't we?'

'And we're the most sarcastic pair someone could ever meet.'

'Yeah.' Sassy hesitated, before hugging her again. 'You did good, boss.'

'We all did.'

As the boat pulled away from the dock, goodbyes were shouted across the water, and celebratory (leftover) rockets were fired into the sky, Marcei leaned on the rail, Ace and Izzy on either side.

She seriously had no idea whatsoever what the future was going to bring. Lots of explosions, probably, and that was what really mattered.

She supposed it would be alright.

* * *

**This is it guys. Make sure you review before you go.  
**

**I suppose that battle could have been a bit longer. It was quicker to read than it was to write. **

**Anyways, this story is finished. I'm going to start another one soon, which is going to be the worgen starting experience. The title is "Last Chance At Humanity". Keep your eye out if you're interested. **

**Remember the reviews!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**


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